« Errare humanum est » ou la monstrueuse errance des Essais

To envision the monster as error encourages the subject to question normality, the self, norms, nature, and superstitions. For Montaigne, it facilitates a reassessment of the natural order in a context of an epistemological crisis, and a reconsideration, in accordance with Epicurean principles, of a diverse, just and tolerant nature. While opting for a Socratic ignorance of natural phenomena, Montaigne concludes that the monster is absent from nature and only exists in the human mind.