Robert
Member
An INTP perhaps?
Just re-reading his Essays at the moment - quite excellent stuff!
For those unfamiliar with Montaigne (1533-1592) and the essays, he was a famous French statesman and writer. Nietzsche wrote of him, "That such a man wrote has truly augmented the joy of living on this Earth". His essays are on a variety of different subjects, such as 'On Death', 'On Friendship', 'On Smells', etc., and he explores the subjects through a mix of anecdotes and logical exploratory argument. They're very pleasurable to read and easy to drop in and out of, as some only last a page or two, though there're others that stretch much longer.
He was a brilliant rationalist and skeptic, but was also well aware of the limits of what is discoverable through human perception and the rational mind. He famously had his medal struck with the inscription 'Que scais-je?' - 'What do I know?'
So I figure probably an INTP. Introvert as he was as he himself admits more scholarly than sociable. Intuitive, as he himself complains of how bad his memory is for external facts, and how he more often relies on invention when exploring subjects:
Thinker, as he's definitely a rationalist. He insists on self-discipline in thought as the best method whereby to attain anything:
And restraint is something he constantly praises, remarking that it is through overcoming emotional caprice and attaining consistency he becomes a man (though the quote escapes me for that at the moment ... ). The P is suggested by 'What do I know?' and the modesty with which he approaches all his subjects. He was one of the first to suggest that Western civilization wasn't the only form of viable civilization and that most people's thoughts are defined by their climate rather than rational exploration of the subjects at hand ...
Just re-reading his Essays at the moment - quite excellent stuff!
For those unfamiliar with Montaigne (1533-1592) and the essays, he was a famous French statesman and writer. Nietzsche wrote of him, "That such a man wrote has truly augmented the joy of living on this Earth". His essays are on a variety of different subjects, such as 'On Death', 'On Friendship', 'On Smells', etc., and he explores the subjects through a mix of anecdotes and logical exploratory argument. They're very pleasurable to read and easy to drop in and out of, as some only last a page or two, though there're others that stretch much longer.
He was a brilliant rationalist and skeptic, but was also well aware of the limits of what is discoverable through human perception and the rational mind. He famously had his medal struck with the inscription 'Que scais-je?' - 'What do I know?'
So I figure probably an INTP. Introvert as he was as he himself admits more scholarly than sociable. Intuitive, as he himself complains of how bad his memory is for external facts, and how he more often relies on invention when exploring subjects:
[...] as several similar examples of nature's workings show, she has generously strengthened other faculties in me in proportion as this one [memory] has grown weaker. I might easily have let my intelligence and judgement follow languidly in other men's footsteps, as all the world does, without exerting their own power, if other people's ideas and opinions had ever been present with me by favour of my memory. (On Liars)
Thinker, as he's definitely a rationalist. He insists on self-discipline in thought as the best method whereby to attain anything:
If we do not occupy them [our minds] with some definite subject which curbs and restrains them, they rush wildly to and fro in the ill-defined field of the imagination,
"As water, trembling in a brass bowl, reflects the sun's light or the form of the shining moon, and so the bright beams flit in all directions, darting up at times to strike the lofty fretted ceilings." (Virgil, Aenied, VIII, 22)
And there is no follow or fantasy that they will not produce in this restless state. (On Idleness)
"As water, trembling in a brass bowl, reflects the sun's light or the form of the shining moon, and so the bright beams flit in all directions, darting up at times to strike the lofty fretted ceilings." (Virgil, Aenied, VIII, 22)
And there is no follow or fantasy that they will not produce in this restless state. (On Idleness)
And restraint is something he constantly praises, remarking that it is through overcoming emotional caprice and attaining consistency he becomes a man (though the quote escapes me for that at the moment ... ). The P is suggested by 'What do I know?' and the modesty with which he approaches all his subjects. He was one of the first to suggest that Western civilization wasn't the only form of viable civilization and that most people's thoughts are defined by their climate rather than rational exploration of the subjects at hand ...
