Érasme de Rotterdam
In Praise of Folly: learning against fanaticism.
Érasme de Rotterdam (v. 1466 – 1536, Low Countries, then all of Europe (Paris, England, Italy, Louvain, Basel)) : humanism. Erasmus wants to reform Christianity through education and a return to the texts, not through violence. He distrusts loud certainties and theologians' quarrels: on obscure questions he prefers moderation and careful doubt. On AskPhilosophy: 4 reconstructed arguments, 4 quotes checked word for word against the original texts, and 3 common beliefs examined; every text carries an authenticity badge (written by the author, posthumous, student notes, reported, apocryphal).
Why he matters
He is the most famous intellectual of his time, one of the first authors whom printing made famous all over Europe. His Greek New Testament (1516) served as the basis for Luther's translation and many others. His debate with Luther on free will remains a model of controversy. His ideas of peace, tolerance and education fed Montaigne, the Enlightenment and, today, the European student exchange programme that bears his name.
His times
The illegitimate son of a priest, orphaned young, he became a canon, then obtained leave to live outside the monastery. He travelled constantly and corresponded with kings, popes and scholars. He saw the Reformation begin: many accused him of preparing the way for Luther, others of failing to follow him. He refused to take sides until 1524, then attacked Luther on free will, while remaining critical of the Church's abuses. He died in Basel, a city that had gone over to the Reformation.
Mind the irony
In the Praise of Folly it is not Erasmus who speaks but Folly, a character praising herself. Erasmus recalls this in his letter to Thomas More: he had to respect his character's nature. Some sentences are mockery, others are ideas he shares, and the line shifts through the book. On this site we always quote "Folly" and point out the passages where Erasmus's own voice can be heard. The Complaint of Peace likewise has Peace speak.
His positions
click a row to see the evidenceA convinced Christian, a priest and theologian. He wants the prince to take God and Christ as his model. What he criticises is superstition and abuse, not faith.
Neither empiricist nor rationalist in the modern sense: he seeks truth by returning to the texts (Scripture, the Ancients) and comparing them, as one strikes fire from two flints.
"I take so little pleasure in assertions" that he would gladly side with the sceptics wherever Scripture and the Church allow. A careful doubt, limited by his faith. Folly, for her part, cites the sceptics of the Academy with approval.
A Christian and Platonic dualism: spirit is worth more than body. In the Praise it is Folly who says so, at the end of the book, where most readers hear Erasmus's own voice.
Against Luther: the will has "something" free, but by far the greater part belongs to God's grace. Without a little free will we can no longer understand God's justice or his commandments.
The good is objective: some pagan philosophers loved virtue "for no other reason than that it is honourable". The king follows what is right, the tyrant what he pleases.
For him, being a philosopher and being a Christian are "different in name but the same in reality". But on obscure points he submits his judgement to Scripture and the Church.
The meaning of life is given: to follow Christ. Folly herself ends by saying that the happiness of Christians is a "madness" higher than all pleasures.
Man is born naked, unarmed, made for friendship and mutual help. But a bad education can spoil the best nature: everything depends on education.
The good king delights in the citizens' liberty and rules for the common good. He prefers a monarchy tempered by aristocracy and democracy, so that it does not turn into tyranny. But he thinks in terms of the common good and harmony, not individual rights.
An ethics of character: the true philosopher sees through false goods and follows the true ones. The "philosophy of Christ" is a way of living, to be imitated, more than a code of rules.