French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Boudou, Montaigne and Animals
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Bibliographic reference: Bénédicte Boudou, Montaigne et les animaux, Léo Scheer, "Anima" series, 2016. EAN13: 9782756111230.
Montaigne and Animals
Bénédicte Boudou
Publication date: 05/04/2016. Publisher: Léo Scheer. Series: Anima. ISBN: 978-2-7561-1123-0. EAN: 9782756111230. Format: Paperback. No. of pages: 192.
Most of us are somewhat familiar with the Cartesian theory of animals as automata. Perhaps less well-known is the fact that this theory was largely a reaction against the benevolent attitude toward animals advocated by certain Renaissance thinkers, most notably Montaigne. His interest in animals is not naturalistic, but philosophical: he challenges human arrogance in claiming dominion over nature. Above all, however, Montaigne shifts the perspective entirely: not content with framing the animal as a mystery to man, he conceives of the animal as looking back at humanity. Thus, recalling his playful interactions with his cat, he does not hesitate to ask: "When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not making a pastime of me rather than I of her?" Replacing the vertical hierarchy of the Great Chain of Being with a horizontal relationship between humans and beasts, built on mutual solidarity and benevolence, Montaigne asks whether animals might not remind humanity to respect nature. Furthermore, his reflection on animal capacities leads him to rehabilitate the role of sensibility in our understanding of the world. If only for this reason, the Essays are well worth rereading.
Bénédicte Boudou is a university professor of 16th-century literature. She has contributed to the edition of Montaigne’s Essays under the direction of Jean Céard, and edited the Dictionnaire des Essais de Montaigne (Éditions Léo Scheer, 2011).
During the early modern period, intellectual debates regarding the status of non-human creatures underwent a shift. While the seventeenth century became dominated by René Descartes's view of animals as automata, the sixteenth-century Renaissance often embraced a more benevolent perspective. Michel de Montaigne stands out in this tradition for challenging human arrogance and replacing the vertical hierarchy of the Great Chain of Being. Bénédicte Boudou's study presents Montaigne's alternative: a horizontal relationship between humans and beasts built on mutual solidarity and benevolence.
Montaigne's philosophical inquiry in his Essays is not naturalistic but philosophical, relying on a shift in perspective that conceives of the animal as looking back at humanity. By recalling his playful interactions with his cat, he questions whether the animal might be making a pastime of him. His reflection on animal capacities serves to rehabilitate the role of sensibility in our understanding of the world. Readers interested in early modern philosophy, animal studies, and the history of ideas may find this volume relevant to their research.