The Birth of the Essay

Essay # 97113

An examination of the roles of Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, Michel Montaigne and Francis Bacon in the development of the essay and its significance in the fields of art and science.

1,976 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2004 Bangladesh

Paper Summary:

This paper traces the birth of the essay form and discusses its significance in the arts and sciences. The paper describes the context of religious strife and the Renaissance in which the essay form developed. It examines the particular social and cultural needs that it filled, especially that of furthering the scientific outlook and individualism. The paper begins with the roles of Erasmus and Luther in shaping the mass print medium and then elaborates on the innovation of Montaigne's essais. It then considers the role of Francis Bacon in further developing the essay and specifically in his promotion of the scientific method.

From the Paper:

"The development of the essay form was a great leap in the arts and sciences. At the dawning of the Age of Science the advent of the essay was a critical innovation. It is a mistake to assume that science is arid logic and mathematics alone. These are the tools to render the quantitative and logical aspects. But science is more than just numbers and logic; it is also observation and expression, hence creative. Karl Popper described science as "the art of systematic oversimplification." Whatever its agenda, it is no doubt a creative process, and thus for science to advance requires a language that is inwardly exploratory and well as well as outwardly observational. This is the description of an essay."

Sample of Sources Used:

Feis, Jacob. Shakespeare and Montaigne. Geneva: Slatkine, 1970.
"Karl Popper". Wikiquote. 17 Sept. 2004. 15 Jul. 2004. <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper>.
Montaigne, Michel. The Complete Essays of Michel Montaigne. Trans. Donald Frame. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1958.
Pascal, Blaise. Pensees. Trans. W. F. Trotter. Mineola: Dover Publications, 2003.