SOURCE: Brody, Jules. “Montaigne: Philosophy, Philology, Literature.” Philosophy and Literature 22, no. 1 (April 1998): 83-107.

In the following essay, Brody subjects Montaigne's work to a philological analysis, praising the writer for his brilliance and his highly original style.

A philosopher is, after all, only one special kind of writer, to whom the same procedure may be applied, which is so often used by critics of “literature” […] To think with words and in words is a procedure as old as human philosophy.¹

You need not spend much time in the miserable business of writing to find out just how beguiling and treacherous words can be. One of the dumbest people I have ever met was the man who told me in response to my question about the progress of his work: “Oh, I've finished the research, all I have to do now is write it up.” As if writing—anything, even...