SOURCE: Morrison, Ian R. “Montaigne and Torture in Criminal Justice.” French Studies Bulletin 58 (spring 1996): 9-10.

In the essay below, Morrison explains Montaigne's rejection of torture as part of the execution process and his limited acceptance of torture as a means of interrogation.

Many scholars have described Montaigne's general hostility to torture. Some have also noted a distinction, in criminal matters, between two uses of torture: in executing the convicted, and in interrogating accused persons on trial.¹ This note concerns the divergence between Montaigne's views on these two uses.

As of the 1580 Essais, he rejects painful execution as ‘pure cruauté’, and denies its deterrent value: a man not stopped by fear of beheading or hanging, will not be ‘empesché par l'imagination … des tenailles, ou de la roue’ (ii, 27, 700-01).² Later additions underscore this rejection.

On the other hand, he initially accepts interrogatory torture, albeit warily. The issue is considered...