On Drunkenness by Michel De Montaigne - Critical Essay

Introduction

The 'On Drunkenness' is an essay that was written by Michel Eyquem de Montaigne who was a French philosopher and published in 1580. The most prominent theme that comes out from this essay is the theme of drunkenness. Montaigne in his essay talks about the evil outcomes and issues that accompany drinking as a habit.

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The authors in his understanding refuted that drinking and drunkenness connect to some form of spiritual ecstasy. He further went on an argued that alcoholism was instead a body stupor. He goes ahead and relates to the story of a woman who drunk beyond her ability. The woman got raped and impregnated without her knowledge as a result of her drinking habit. It saw her lying in an indecent position. "whereupon a young fellow that served her in the quality of a labourer, encouraged by this proclamation, declared that he had one holiday found her, having taken too much of the bottle, so fast asleep by the chimney and in so indecent a posture, that he could conveniently do his business without waking her," ( de Montaigne par 6). From this scenario, it is evident that excessive consumption of alcohol as well as wine causes impairment in someone's judgment. It renders one careless and unconscious of what is going on.

Excessive consumption of alcohol as well as wine has detrimental consequences on the one drinking From the Story of Michel de Montaigne we can see what heavy drinking did to the woman. The adverse effects of excessive drunkenness have existed way back from Noah's story. It is evident that when someone drinks heavily, he/she is more likely to lose his/ her morals and decency. Binge drinking is a common problem amongst heavy drinkers. It raises the blood alcohol level of an individual by about 0.8% (Jones et al. 84). As a result of heavy drinking, they end up developing conditions like having a puffy face as well as loss of appetite. Drunkenness also interferes with the body mass index of an individual because it reduces how the individual eats. As a result of failing to eat well, there will be weight loss problems that will result in an imbalance in the (BMI) (Sofo et al. 49). From my research and the article, I have been able to see that drinking is an okay way of refreshing oneself only if the consumers practice it in moderation. Excessive alcohol and drunkenness bring severe consequences.

Works Cited

de Montaigne, Michel. "The Essays Of Michel De Montaigne, By Michel De Montaigne: CHAPTER II "Of Drunkenness" Ebooks.Adelaide.Edu.Au, (1580): https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/montaigne/michel/essays/book2.2.html. Accessed 27 Feb 2018.

Jones, Scott A., Jordan M. Lueras, and Bonnie J. Nagel. "Effects of binge drinking on the developing brain: studies in humans." Alcohol research: current reviews 39.1 (2018): 87.

Sofo, Seidu, and Emmanuel Thompson. "Effects of Body Mass Index and Drunkenness on Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents in Ghana." International Journal of Health Research and Innovation 4.2 (2016): 45-54.