Michel De Montaigne Of Cannibals - Class Notes

• Nobel savages - the idea that pre-civilization is more noble, pure and natural 
• Montaigne had a different view on barbarism. He believed that people view barbarism as anything other than their own customs and culture. 
• "Good old days" - many people refer to the past as the good times (ex: paleo diet - that is how cavemen ate so it must be right) 
• He compared barbarism in different culture - cannibalism and religious persecution 
• Key terms - natural, barbarism 
• What makes a battle or war noble? Can one be noble is it it the cause that is noble? What is one fighting for? 
• Fear of "the other", the unknown, other beliefs, people or ways of life 
• Romanticization of the past 
• Barbarism - originally meant anyone who didn't speak Greek