“Que sais-je?” Montaigne asked. “What do I know?” It’s a good question, and there are many dimensions to it. What does my knowledge amount to? Do I understand what I know? What is it to know something? Is knowledge merely an intellectual acquisition, or a moral one, too? Why is the distinction we commonly draw between knowing a person and knowing of a person so important to us? Some months ago I was invited to a conference in Germany. It was on “Romantic Exploration”, and I had some long-neglected material that could be converted to use in that context. I…