then shows the absurdity of this claim by taking a hypothetical situation in which Man is in isolations with not outside help and stripped of the “grace and knowledge of God” those things that are “…his power and the very ground of his being” (Montaigne 13). With out the true knowledge the God bestows upon man, he cannot found or erect any such rational as to why he is different than his fellow animals. With out this basis of heaven, which man proclaims only he can understand, he is the most pitiful of God’s creatures. Man has no authority and no basis for this knowledge that he generally assumes he has over any other creature. Man’s concept of knowledge and of his enlightened state in the world falls apart in such a scenario. Without his claim to being unique, man can no longer assert his vanity, and the book of man-made knowledge becomes a volume of blank pages.Aside from his scenario Montaigne again solidifies his position on humanity vanity by further examining the differences between man and the rest of the animal. It is in this argument that Montaigne makes two major points, the first of focuses on man’s inability to communicate with animals. He questions, “Why should it be a defect in the beasts not in us which stops all communication between us” (Montaigne 17)? Man has always attributed the lack of communication between himself and the animals as a flaw in animals because man has always assumed he is at a higher level then the animals. Montaigne goes on to inquire, “When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not passing time with me rather than I with her” (Montaigne 17)? By introducing this question, Montaigne has turned the idea of the all-powerful man on its head. The fact is that we don’t know which case is true, but if one begins to question man’s relation ship with the animals, it may be hard to discern which plays the ro...
