Did Montaigne Love His Children? Demography and the Hypothesis of Parental Indifference

Abstract

Philippe Aries' hypothesis that parental indifference is inversely related to infant and child survival has proved to be particularly influential during the last four decades. Aries uses Montaigne's apparent indifference to the deaths of his own infant children as an example to support his case. But it can be argued on the basis of firmer supporting evidence not only that Montaigne was a caring father but also that infant and childhood mortality were not universally high in modern Europe.