What does Montaigne mean by saying that savages are "wild" in the same way that fruits are?

Michel de Montaigne, a French Renaissance philosopher, expressed the idea that savages are "wild" in the same way that fruits are in his essay "Of Cannibals." Montaigne used this analogy to challenge Eurocentric views of civilization and to reflect on the natural state of human societies.

When Montaigne speaks of savages being "wild" like fruits, he is drawing a comparison between the natural development of both human societies and fruits in the wild. In this context, "wild" does not necessarily mean savage or uncivilized in a negative sense, but rather in a natural and untamed state.

Montaigne argues that just as fruits grow and ripen naturally in the wild without human cultivation, so too do the practices and customs of "savage" societies develop naturally without the influence of complex societal structures. He uses this comparison to question the assumption that European civilization is the only standard of order and virtue.

Montaigne's perspective challenges ethnocentrism and encourages a more open-minded consideration of different cultures. He suggests that what Europeans may perceive as "wild" or uncivilized in other societies might simply be a different expression of natural human development, much like the way fruits grow in the wild without human intervention.