A subjetividade narrativa nos Ensaios de Montaigne

o “eu” que se diz em primeira pessoa

Abstract

This text seeks to explore the intrinsically narrative character of the subjectivity that emerges in Michel de Montaigne's Essays. As we know, the subjective turn operated by philosophy during the sixteenth century lays the foundation for modern philosophy, and the story often told is that Descartes is its great founder. From the discovery of subjectivity through the cogito, the bases for the construction of subsequent philosophy are established, absolutely changing the philosophical and scientific landscape of the West. However, the subjective turn can be found, before Descartes, in Michel de Montaigne's Essays. By speaking and writing about himself in the Essays—and, as he himself says, only about himself—Montaigne appears as a subject for the first time in the history of Western philosophy. Therefore, this text aims to clarify what subjectivity is that founds philosophical modernity and, subsequently, to establish that this foundational subjectivity cannot but be narrative as well.