What are the maladies of western civilization and what are the cures for these maladies? Drawing on Montaigne's "Of Cannibals", the maladies of western civilization are embodied through the ostensibly simple minded noble savages. This can be explained via the era of Montaigne's writing. It was during this time that explorers from the "enlightened" western civilization, that being Europe, began their epic saga of discovering, conquering and benevolently coercing native inhabitants of the new world. …showed first 75 words of 520 total…

…showed last 75 words of 520 total…rid of our shadows we most live in the dark. The enlightenment had its repercussions that have caused many philosophers to question the grace of its outcome. Although we sympathize with the noble savage, we never spend any measure of time to contemplate who the savage is. As Montaigne wrote, "many call these people barbarians in respect to rules of reason, but not in respect to ourselves, who surpass them in every kind of barbarity."