For Pascal, human unease points beyond the world. For Montaigne, it comes from a flaw in the human animal. Here I side with Montaigne. Humans are self-divided creatures whose lives are mostly spent in displacement activity. The sorrows they have in common with their animal kin are multiplied by thought constantly doubling back on itself. It is this reflexive self-consciousness that engenders the special wretchedness of the human animal.
