Editing Hamlet (section)

===Philosophical===
[[File:Michel de Montaigne 1.jpg|thumb|Philosophical ideas in ''Hamlet'' are similar to those of the French writer [[Michel de Montaigne]], a contemporary of Shakespeare's (artist: [[Thomas de Leu]], fl.&nbsp;1560–1612).]]

Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as [[relativism|relativist]], [[existentialism|existentialist]], and [[scepticism|sceptical]]. For example, he expresses a subjectivistic idea when he says to Rosencrantz: "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so".{{refn|''Hamlet'' 2.2.247–248.}} The idea that nothing is real except in the mind of the individual finds its roots in the Greek [[Sophism|Sophists]], who argued that since nothing can be perceived except through the senses—and since all individuals sense, and therefore perceive things differently—there is no absolute truth, but rather only relative truth.{{sfn|MacCary|1998|pp=47–48}} The clearest alleged instance of existentialism is in the "[[to be, or not to be]]"{{refn|''Hamlet'' 3.1.55–87.}} speech, where Hamlet is thought by some to use "being" to allude to life and action, and "not being" to death and inaction.

''Hamlet'' reflects the contemporary [[Philosophical scepticism|scepticism]] promoted by the French [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance humanist]] [[Michel de Montaigne]].{{sfn|MacCary|1998|p=49}} Prior to Montaigne's time, humanists such as [[Pico della Mirandola]] had argued that man was God's greatest creation, made in God's image and able to choose his own nature, but this view was subsequently challenged in Montaigne's ''[[Essays (Montaigne)|Essais]]'' of 1580. Hamlet's "[[What a piece of work is a man]]" seems to echo many of Montaigne's ideas, and many scholars have discussed whether Shakespeare drew directly from Montaigne or whether both men were simply reacting similarly to the spirit of the times.{{sfn|Knowles|1999|pp=1049, 1052–1053}}{{sfn|Thompson|Taylor|2006a|pp=73–74}}{{sfn|MacCary|1998|p=49}}