Mieux s’instruire « par fuite que par suite », ou comment user des erreurs d’autrui

In the very beginning of the chapter “Of the art of confering”, Montaigne holds that he better instructs himself “by avoiding than by imitation”. Evil and error have thus a paradoxical advantage on good and truth, an advantage of a cognitive and dynamic nature. Although this idea is consistent with the Montaigne’s ontology which confers much more importance to difference than to identity, its connection with the rest of the chapter “Of the art of confering” remains somewhat mysterious.