Montaigne on Curiosity

Abstract Curiosity for Montaigne is an elusive concept. As a Renaissance author, Montaigne inherits a long and multifaceted critical discourse on the question of curiosity. His reflections on this religiously and philosophically loaded term require careful assessment. This chapter first contextualizes Montaigne’s attitude toward curiosity by looking briefly at the mixed reception of curiosity in ancient and medieval discourses before turning to how early modern figures conceived of curiosity as, in large part, a danger to humanist, religious, and/or philosophical ideals of the period. It will then turn to Montaigne’s musings on curiosity, showing how his essaying, or essayistic doing, puts the author paradoxically at odds with his own dismissive remarks, or constative description, of curiosity. The essay form—a form that illustrates and enacts a curious will or “spirited mind”—will also be considered in the discussion of Montaigne’s transvaluation of curiosity.