“What a Foolish Project He Had to Paint His Own Portrait!”: The Influence of Montaigne’s “Straightforward Pyrrhonism” in the Rise of Pascal’s Self

The influence exerted by Montaigne on the author of the Pensées is well known, as explicitly indicated in Pascal’s “Discussion with Monsieur de Sacy.” Although there are many studies dedicated to clarifying the concrete role that the supposed “straightforward Pyrrhonism” of the Essais would have had in Pascal’s apologetic use of skepticism, very few have addressed in any detail the essayist’s contribution to Pascal’s critique of the metaphysical idea of the human being and his critique of the Cartesian ego. In this paper I will try to expand on this point, which seems to me much more relevant to understanding the relationship between Montaigne and Pascal.