Montaigne and the Theatre of Conscience

This article proposes a new reading of Montaigne’s essay ‘De la gloire’ in the context of Ciceronian moral philosophy and in reference to Cicero’s metaphor of the theatre of conscience. His essay explores the tension between the ethical ideal of the primacy of individual conscience and the demoralizing reality of the need for external sanctions to enforce moral and religious norms. This tension leads Montaigne to a candidly irreligious consideration of the instrumental value of religion in society.