"Will Durant on Michel de Montaigne: A Renaissance Thinker"
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2016
- Join the celebrated historian, Will Durant, as he delves into the life and writings of Michel de Montaigne, the French philosopher and essayist known for his introspective and thought-provoking essays. In this enlightening video, Durant explores Montaigne's contributions to the literary form of the essay, his humanistic philosophy, and his enduring impact on the world of literature and thought.
📚 Explore Durant's insightful commentary as he navigates the following key aspects of Michel de Montaigne's life and philosophy:
Montaigne's early life and education in Renaissance France
The development of the essay as a literary genre and Montaigne's innovative approach
His introspective and self-exploratory essays, including "Essays" (Les Essais)
Montaigne's humanistic and skeptical philosophy
His influence on later writers and thinkers, including Shakespeare and modern essayists
The enduring relevance of Montaigne's essays in exploring the human condition
This video offers a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Michel de Montaigne's contributions to literature and philosophy and his profound impact on the development of the essay as a literary form. Will Durant's eloquent storytelling and literary expertise make this exploration of Montaigne's life and works a must-watch for literature enthusiasts, scholars, and anyone interested in the art of self-reflection and philosophical inquiry.
What a cultural treat! The subject, Michel de Montaigne, the great french essayist as portrayed by the ambitious and everyman historian, William Durant and narrated by one of our greatest and nuanced narrator's...Grover Cleveland.
14:36 I feel similarly toward Will Durant as Montaigne did toward Plutarch and Seneca:
“From whom. Like the Danaïdes, I draw my water,
Incessantly filling as fast as emptying,
The familiarity I have with them and the aid they afford me in my old age,
And my book, merely framed of their spoils,
Binds me to maintain their honor"
What a superb narrator - perfect pace and lovely voice
The narrator did a brilliant job. And thanks to Rocky for posting these; one of the best things on UA-cam.
Montaigne is the most important thinker of the age, yet so few know about his life and the Essais.
I have also observed the neglect of Montaigne. Not even in academic settings do many people have an acquaintance with the Essais. At least Pascal and Camus paid their proper tribute to him!
No way he's the most important but he is great
One way to argue he is more important than the major thinkers that succeeded him (Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant) is the reason that he is read by so many people OUTSIDE of professional philosophy, and academia.
A friend who reads the Essais, is a wise friend indeed!
great upload ..thanks
Glover Cleveland reads narratives in away I have never experienced with anyone else in my 63 years! Talk of a gift.
Agreed.
This is very good.
Love your narrators voice
Montaigne was "profounder than Voltaire."
That's quite a statement!
Alex da Vinci Agreed. If Voltaire was anything it was profound.
Billy Willy l
Thank you.
Fantastic
From Socrates, the Exemplar,
To Seneca the Wise;
A bit of Cicero, to Plutarch and the Lives;
We were granted Montaigne!
(Virgil and Lucretius are quoted plentifully, too.)
((Pyrrho deserves a mention.))
Is that Grover Cleveland’s voice? It makes such a difference, to have a good reader, with a good voice, fluent delivery, and comprehension of the subject matter. These are recordings of great value. Thank you for giving them to the world 👍
Happy to find someone as impressed as me in regard to this crystaline perfect diction and intonation. Curious to know who's voice it is. The whole charm and seduction of this channel is this voice. Will Durant genius could not be pronounced with a better voice! I listen again and again, this channel is of an unsurpassed benefit to the study and learning of the great masters!
Grover Gardner.....not Cleveland...but yeah, his voice is so goooood! On Audible I purposefully look up what he narrates and if I also love the author, I immediately purchase it....I already own all his Durant books and I just wishlisted The Stand by Stephen King....I can't wait for his reading of that tome!
Dude, did you just use the word tome?! Nice!
@@athenassigil5820 : Thank you. GROVER GARDNER! I must have had a mind fart or something, and plopped in an ex-president’s name without realising I’d done it. Appreciate the correction, especially for the sake of Renato up there, who wants to know more . . . Dunno’ how that happened, but such things do happen . . .
I was once asked by a friend, “Who starred in The Glass Bottomed Boat with Rock Hudson?” while I was waiting in a cue at the DMV. It was just one of those idle conversations you get into, whilst you’re waiting for such a long time, that happened to be about movies. I knew the answer, but I just couldn’t get it off of the tip of my tongue. When I got to the front of the cue (at long last!) the woman at the counter ask me, “Name?” in that abrupt manner they have, just when it came to me. I snapped my fingers and yelled, “Doris Day!” with a big cheesy grin on my face! 🤦♂️ . . . And then quickly realised where I was again, only to see a cue full of people staring intently at fascinating things on their shoes . . . It just happens sometimes 🤷♂️.
Embarrassing, like that one. Glad you said it though. Thanks again. 😉✌️
@@renatoalcides5104 : GROVER GARDNER! My mistake. He has countless audiobooks under his belt. I have one of him reading the entire correspondence of Abe Lincoln (yes, an actual president, not a mistake this time) throughout the Civil War, with a few from his earlier years, between him and his wife to be and some friends. That’s just one example, but there are many that are well worth paying for, just to hear Grover GARDNER reading them. 🤦♂️😁👍
Very relatable character.
glad you liked it.
Durant gilds him forgivably because Durant is of his type. Plutarch -> Montaigne -> Emerson, and in our modern times Durant. Individuals who relished thought and philosophy and understanding as a way to discover and discern both goodness and greatness. Philosophy used to try to live well... to discern what that is, and what that means. I won't speak of comparisons with Voltaire and Montaigne, but I see Durant's sympathy with the man in the turret.
Daniel Faggella ו
Will Durant wasn't a philosopher. He leaned more towards Spinoza.
History is cursory philosophy
Gilded ?
@@patriciapalmer1377 I recommend a dictionary
She made time for my exceptional genius. Around 11:40. He was amazingly cool.
Durant is the greatest
Please start including the works these are excerpted from. I find it easier to listen to audio but I also need to be able to find the book to cite in my school work. But, thank you for making these videos. Durant might be the best historian of the 20th century besides Braudel, who I would suggest if you ever expand the channel to include other writers.
Go to the Library! Rocky isn't here to do your school work!
Fernand Braudel's primary focus was on the Mediterranean, whereas Durant was much more broader in his scope.
@@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164 I dare say Braudel's primary focus was on Theory of History - although I agree that the Mediterranean is the locus where he applied his proposed method.
@Rocky C Rocky C : Excellent work.
@@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164 Perhaps we may find a certain charm in having to search a little. Strange as it may seem you may find a few pearls when looking for the actual text. Our urgency and blind belief in the sanctity of immediacy is just a sign of our times.
Google.
Am I alone in finding a resemblance to his in Benjamin Franklin's ( and a touch of Samuel Clemmons) philosophies and prose ? They are all guests at the imaginary cocktail/dinner party, I have been inviting and replacing invitees to for half a century.
You are not alone, so have I. It’s an engaging pastime. But the depravity of capitalism in US educational institutions have degraded individual thinking for the sake of an expensive cap and gown paid for by corporate parents no matter the dumb cluck kid posing for the photograph. Thank you for your comment, couldn’t resist responding. Miss Jenny (music theory teacher In exile, Manhattan).
🤝
They love saying extinguished back then so did Goethe...
But you never hear of anything being intinguished.
@@slappy8941 Or untinguished either.
:-p
Amen.😇🥰✌🤍🙏🙌👏
Who is the reader ?
Interesting that this is just how everyone thinks now. I wonder if we can squeeze anything more from him.
algorithmic
The noble savage myth...
MM
Drinking alcohol to any amount is stupid.
Montaigne a thinker? 😂😂😂😂 What a joke!
Yes one of Nietzsches favourite