Understanding human nature and the human condition is crucially a matter of entering sympathetically into experiences of others. This is among the perceptions portrayed by Montaigne through his oeuvres. In various stages of life, people are driven by dynamic goals and anticipations on the direction that they wish their future needs to take. In most cases, the decisions made in life are influenced by social factors influencing the social life and the relationships established with others including family, friends, and members of the surrounding society. Depicted from Montaigne’s history, he quitted public life and decided to get into private life after inheriting his father’s property (De Botton, 2013). Throughout his life, Montaigne was fascinated by the world of human experience and anticipated that he could get a private life free from all manners of concern and affairs. Nevertheless, Alain de Bolton presents rich information on the social life of different members of the public through numerous discussions. In return, this essay analyzes the impact of private life as it affects different individuals who tend to venture into it after accumulating riches.
In every society, accumulating riches is a common goal in life and gets individuals to engage in various activities with the aim of accomplishing it before the future grows nigh. As a matter of fact, people create an increasingly private world after accumulating wealth. Their circle of social life grows smaller with time only encapsulating selected groups of family and friends excluding other members of the public who are considered unfit for their taste. This view of life has several advantages and disadvantages as well.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Among the advantages of contracting the social life circle through concentrating on private life include getting time to work on oneself. Focusing on a private world gives a good platform to focus on personal strengths, opinions regarding human nature, growing perceptions on different aspects and define personal attitudes as well. According to Alain de Bolton, Montaigne’s subject matter was himself. After accumulating the inheritance from his father, Montaigne decided to essay himself (De Botton, 2013). This would involve defining his strengths, his attitudes, opinions, and his nature as well. To achieve his resolutions, he had to pretend nothing but confess all for a new beginning in the private world.
Additionally, creating an increasingly private world is necessary for presenting a more fashioned character that can present the best out of what human nature expects. “Others form man, I only report him.” This quote by Montaigne presents his writing talent. Through concentrating on his personal life, Montaigne has a chance to realize his talent and focus on building it (Phillips, 2000). He could effectively report different aspects characterizing man and define various aspects that could reflect the best out of any given character.
Moreover, a private world developed after accumulating riches is characterized by the tastes and preferences of individuals who one desire to be associated with. In return, this makes it easier to enjoy social life together with the loved ones especially connecting with family and friends. Creating an increasingly private world is crucial for strengthening the social life of an individual as it helps in concentrating on friends and family who a crucial for the social life.
Despite the advantages of the identified trajectory, a private world induces a barrier between the rich and the humble in society. The moment people accumulate riches, the humble in society becomes unfit for their taste. In return, this attracts exclusion of people who do not fit their preferences as they consider them as unworthy in their social life. As a consequence, the rich end up limiting themselves from people who hold ideas and bliss through sharing their social life (Phillips, 2000).
Additionally, creating an increasingly private world attracts loneliness that would not be while in the public world. The public world presents a significant platform to study human nature, people’s attitudes and strengthens social life as well. In life, after accumulating wealth and riches, it is advisable to complete the cycle of life by helping the humble in society. Actually, the best and blissful feeling in the world involves getting engaged in people’s lives changing them too be more stable and enjoy their lives as well.
Actually, many people seek this path of successful sameness after accumulating wealth and still get involved in the same trajectory of life. Montaigne, through his essays, sought to understand the question of how people should live. As a consequence, his main aim involved defining different aspects in order to understand human nature. Regardless of the social life maintained by individuals, their lives tend to encompass various defects that make them prefer maintaining a private life despite the riches (Bannister, 2010). This realization usually occurs after conducting a self-evaluation which gives a platform of focusing on the defects. As human nature, each time an individual realizes a defect, it takes a strong heart to focus on the strengths and enjoy life ignoring the presence of the respective defect.
Furthermore, the successful sameness supported by the trajectory on the accumulation of riches tends to induce a certain perception categorizing individuals in society. This is mostly based on the aspect of taste as a matter of consideration when choosing who to fit in another’s life. In return, many people seek this trajectory after accumulating wealth which later induces division in the society and social lives as well. In the process of accumulating wealth, there are always people who support and present successful ideas. This involves different stakeholders in life who are not always rich. The issue of creating an increasingly private world creates a barrier to such people who hugely participated in the process of building the lives of the rich (Beisheim et. al, 2012). As a consequence, the barrier attracts division and affects the social life that existed before individuals denounce their public life for a private world. Therefore, the most significant approach towards creating a more private world would be consideration of different aspects that need to be either private or public. In the real sense, there are issues that need to be solved in the private world. There still are other aspects that need to be maintained in public life in order to maintain a balance of life.
Having “good taste” is a phrase that is frequently used to determine people who are fit to be accommodated in one’s social life. Having a good taste in people has become a loaded phrase fostered by its meaning and the impact on individuals’ social life. For instance, Aristotle states that little men are pretty but not handsome. In this context, little men would be considered of value in the society but not of good taste as per the appearance. The good taste in this example would address men who are handsome. Just an example depicted in the film by Alain de Bolton. The phrase has been employed by people after accumulating wealth and when the need to creating an increasingly private world rises. They consider people who have a good taste and fit for being members of the inner circle of social life in the private world (De Botton, 2013). As a consequence, the phrase has facilitated the exclusion of people who have been crucial in the process of accumulating wealth but appear to lack the good taste necessary for being considered for the social life in the private world. In return, the phrase has been loaded by negativity as it demeans those excluded by the users of the phrase.
The phenomenon of privatization of life-based on social status characterizes most of the Anglo-American societies. In return, privatization of life has grown into a culture in the United States and the Anglo-American societies establishing social orders that require members of the society to adhere to. Montaigne considers producing to the world a substantial aspect even if an individual focuses on creating a private world. The culture and social orders evident in the Angor-American society focus on the privatization of life to an extent that individuals are no longer concerned with the excluded members of the public (Beisheim et. al, 2012). The question of how should an individual live in a society induces a dilemma concentrating on various aspects that describe the social status of individuals living in the identified societies.
Privatization of life is culturally specific to the U.S. among other Anglo-American social orders. In these societies, there exist different conflicting beliefs ranging from religion aspects to the social status aspects defined by the accumulation of wealth. The emergence of gated communities appears as one of the major pieces of evidence of the privatization of life in Anglo-American society. In return, there emerges numerous social order that put to an end the strong public communication that existed in the ancient era. The Anglo-American social orders are rampant in urban life following a high population in the urban centers harboring culturally diverse individuals (Bannister, 2010).
Additionally, the United States is among the developed countries globally. Moreover, the society living in different states have diverse cultures that limit their public life. Despite the efforts to understand human nature in order to improve social life, privatization remains the only option in order to maintain the social orders that require a peaceful environment, especially in urban centers. However, this phenomenon is characterized by different cons both in social life and society as well. Privatization has social orders that dictate the relationship among the members of the communities and define rules of handling personal life (Beisheim et. al, 2012). Individuals tend to get more time concentrating on personal life instead of public life. As a consequence, individuals tend to grow weak in social life based on the public world. Therefore, social orders induce a difference in the concepts defining the private and public life of individuals under the described phenomenon.
The narrative focuses on Montaigne who represents the rich under the influence of creating a private world. Nevertheless, the narrative does not focus on the percentage of members of the society excluded from the private world created by rich individuals after they have accumulated wealth with privatization the only thought. Furthermore, the narrative does not consider the thoughts of individuals who are considered not of good taste. Members of the society are categorized under the basis of social status with the rich in the society opting for privatization in order to venture onto the private world. The reason behind the failure to consider the excluded portion in the society is based on the importance of addressing the privatization phenomenon in society.
In conclusion with the example of the United States society, the issue of creating an increasingly private world with friends and families being the members spreads to different societies hence inducing a great barrier between the humble and the rich in the society. Through reflecting on Montaigne’s process of writing in his private world, most of the essays focus on self-evaluation, which was the main reason behind establishing a private life. Therefore, the phenomenon of privatization which is rampantly growing will spread globally in the future making understanding of human nature through public exposure a bit challenging.
References
Bannister, R. (2010). Social Darwinism: Science and myth in Anglo-American social thought . Temple University Press.
Beisheim, M., Young, O. R., & Finger, M. (2012). Limits to privatization: How to avoid too much of a good thing: A report to the Club of Rome . Earthscan.
De Botton, A. (2013). The consolations of philosophy . Vintage.
Phillips, L. (2000). Mediated communication and the privatization of public problems: discourse on ecological risks and political action. European Journal of Communication , 15 (2), 171-207.
