Of Cannibals Montaigne Analysis

Intolerance is defined as an unwilling to accept views, beliefs or behavior that differs from one owns. In the essay, Of Cannibals, Michel Montaigne clearly states how he has a distain for intolerance when one man places his own judgement on another man’s world. His philosophy in life is to approach cultural indifferences with an open mind and one must have a willing to accept other cultural beliefs and customs contrary to one’s own beliefs. Although Montaigne discusses the subject matter of cannibalism in Of Cannibal, his principles of intolerance may apply also be applied to other societal norms such as the Mayan ball games, in which the loser, often a king, is sacrificed to the gods. What one man calls uncivil another man sees no wrong. One principle of Michel de Montaigne of states, “We have no other aim of truth and reason, than the example and idea of the opinions and customs of the countries we live in” (373). Montaigne makes it known that all men should be willing to accept the views of

The Mayan civilization believed human blood was necessary to nurture the gods. The Mayan ball court served as the idea place for this religious ritual. For example, when a king decided “to war against the nation that lie beyond their mountains,” it was an admirable thing to do (Montaigne 372). The Mayan’s lived by the belief that there was valor against their enemies, so challenging a king to participate in the Mayan ball court ball game to compete until death was a norm. The kings believed that their “souls to be eternal” and those who win the game deserve to dwell with their gods and the losers are cursed (Montaigne 373). The second principle Montaigne would have one ponder is make sure one understands a person belief system before you judge it, because death may be viewed as a courage and strength, not shame and defeat. The Victors behavior may seem barbaric; however, it’s a part of the