"Des Cannibales": presencia del otro y formación de sí

"Des Cannibales": presence of the other and formation of oneself

Abstract

This article analyses the chapter “Des cannibales” (Essais, I, 31) from two
methodological assumptions. The first one is that each chapter of the Essais is an
episode of the self-painting project. The second one is that each chapter must be read
taking into account the immediately preceding ones, which serve as preparation for
its reading. These two assumptions allow the emergency of two questions: how to
achieve the naturalization of man, and society, through art; and the role that “the
other” plays in that process. Both questions apply both to the individual project of
self-painting and to the problem of social organization, in which the Discours sur la
servitude volontaire of La Boétie, the elliptical protagonist of the chapter, plays an
important role in reflection. Inasmuch as it places the question of recognition as a
key to reflect on the society, in which the process of individual training takes place.

Keywords : Montaigne, “Des Cannibales”, La Boétie, Self-education, Recognition
of the other