Erasmus of Rotterdam: A Brief Biography, Philosophy and Basic Ideas. Renaissance culture in western and central Europe

Prominent figures of the Renaissance, theologian, philologist, philosopher, teacher - all this belongs to the name Erasmus of Rotterdam. He despised scholastic philosophy, condemned the Protestant schism, defended church reforms, with all this, Erasmus had a literary talent and an excellent sense of humor.

His most famous "Praise of Folly" is a recognized masterpiece of satire, published over 200 times around the world. The love story of the parents of Erasmus of Rotterdam deserves special attention. Father Erasmus gave up his career as a priest for love. He resisted the will of his parents and joined his fate with a girl who in the future became the mother of the famous philosopher. They gave their first child, born November 28, 1469, the name Gergard, which means coveted.

Gergard-Erasmus's parents were not married, and little Erasmus spent the first years of his life with his mother. Soon, both parents die of the plague - first the mother, then the father. His guardians understand that with the seal of "born out of wedlock" Erasmus cannot claim good public office. That is why since early years he is sent to a monastery. From 1486 to 1492, in the brotherhood of the Augustinian canons, Rotterdam studied the ancient languages \u200b\u200b(Latin and Greek), the works of ancient writers and philosophers.

Erasmus is improving in rhetoric, mastering knowledge in various sciences and he is noticed. After a short service with the Bishop of Cambrai, he leaves for Paris. From 1493 to 1499 in Paris, Erasmus studied theology and ancient literature. In 1498, he met Lord Mountjoy, who later took Erasmus to London. He spent less than a year in London, but during this short time he meets Thomas More (author of Utopia) and John Colet. In the future, Erasmus had a sincere and strong friendship with Mor.

In 1500, Erasmus returns to Paris. Here he publishes a collection of 818 anecdotes and sayings of ancient writers "Adagia". In 1502, a plague came to Paris, fleeing from infection, Erasmus wanders from city to city: Orleans, Leuven, Rotterdam, Paris, London and finally Italy, the city of Turin. At the University of Turin he was presented with an honorary diploma for the title of Doctor of Theology. And in Italy, Erasmus does not sit still: he visits Bologna, Florence, Venice - complements the collection of antique anecdotes and sayings.

In 1507, the collection "Adagia" was republished, now it is "Three Chiliads (thousands) and about the same number of hundreds of sayings." In 1509, Henry VIII came to the throne of England, in connection with this event, Erasmus of Rotterdam returned to London. On the way to England, he composes the satire "Praise of Foolishness", this ironic work was published only in 1511. At the University of Cambridge from 1511 to 1513, Erasmus taught Greek and theology. Due to frequent illnesses associated with English weather, Erasmus left for Germany in 1513.

From 1517 to 1521, living in Louvain, Erasmus of Rotterdam is bathed in the rays of glory: he is the brightest star of theology and secular science. A huge number of visitors want to see him, thousands of letters from his admirers are waiting for an answer. But the sun did not shine for long - due to the split of the church and some connection between the philosophy of Erasmus and the philosophy of Martin Luther, the clergy begin to persecute Rotterdam. This forces him to move to Basel in 1521. Here he writes half of Easy Conversations.

In 1529-1535 Erasmus of Rotterdam lives in Freiburg, from 1535 - in Basel. During this time, a large number of his works were published: "On the early education of children", "Discourses about the war with the Turks", "Interpretation of the Creed", "On preparation for death" and others. In July 1535, Thomas More was executed. Erasmus is completely absorbed by the longing for his best friend: he realizes that his life is nearing the end. On July 12, 1536, Erasmus of Rotterdam died.

The main idea, permeating with a thick thread all the literary creations of Erasmus, is the construction of a human ideal close to the personality of Christ himself. Erasmus of Rotterdam was critical of both politics and society of the then Europe. He condemned the remoteness of the church from the apostolic teaching. In different time periods, his works were perceived differently by the church, science and society, and until now there is no unequivocal assessment of his work.

Many have heard at least a glimpse of the name of the greatest scientist of the Renaissance - Erasmus of Rotterdam. He has stepped far beyond his time, possessed unique knowledge in the field of philosophy and mythology, political science and sociology. He was born in the Dutch city of Gouda, and died in Switzerland, in Basel, during his life he visited dozens of countries and cities, everywhere drawing from the source of knowledge.

But wherever he was and whatever he studied, the real place of his dwelling was - Antiquity. He was fluent in ancient Greek and Latin. When he was invited to lecture at an English university, he chose Cambridge and lectured on theology based on the present texts of the Old and New Testaments. For that time, this was surprising, since there were many transcriptions and interpretations of all the biblical texts.

short biography

The biography of the philosopher is very interesting and instructive. He was born in 1469 and was illegitimate, it is believed that a Catholic priest sinned with his servant and from this connection the future philosopher was born. This state, from the very infancy, blocked his paths to the wide world, in addition, he was born into an extremely poor family. If we recall the attitude towards illegitimate children at that time, it will immediately become clear that nothing good was expected of such a child. And the only thing that remained for the young man was the path to God, to the monastery.

After the plague epidemic of 1485, during which his mother died, Erasmus and his brother Peter came to the city of Gouda to visit their father, but after his imminent death, the young men fell into a family of distant relatives. Relatives insisted on admitting young people to the monastery, and Erasmus entered the Augustinian monastery as a novice, where he soon took monastic vows (the Christian rite of taking monasticism or initiation into the clergy).

Thus, the young Erasmus dedicated his life to God. Life in the monastery left him a lot of time to study languages \u200b\u200band to study the works of famous theologians and philosophers. Quite quickly, this young man drew attention to himself with brilliant abilities, honed Greek and Latin, excellent manners and abilities for logic and rhetoric.

His sermons did not go unnoticed, and soon he received powerful patrons of art. With their help, he was able to visit all large cities Europe, where he improved in philosophy and theology.

Traveling around the cities of England, Erasmus of Rotterdam met and made friends with many philosophers - humanists, especially close friends with Thomas More, the author of the famous book "Utopia", which tells about the nonexistent island of Utopia, where people live in harmony and happiness, having built a new perfect world.

In 1499, after returning from the United Kingdom, the philosopher travels to European cities: Paris, Vienna, Orleans, Rotterdam. In 1505-1506 he was able to visit the cities of Italy, which he had long dreamed of.

The oldest university in the city of Turin awarded Erasmus with an honorary doctorate in philosophy and theology. The Pope, as a sign of special benevolence, allowed to wear secular clothes of the country in which he this moment is. It was at this time that the most famous and popular book was written - the satire "Praise of Stupidity".

In 1513, Erasmus visited Germany, in 1515 he visited England for the last time, a country he loved very much and in which he spent many happy hours with benefit.

Returning to Europe, the philosopher settled in Spain, since the king of Spain, the future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charles 1 offered him the position of court adviser. This allowed the scientist to lead a fairly free lifestyle, without thinking about their daily bread.

The clever king did not at all require his adviser to be constantly present in the palace and the philosopher did not change his passion for travel and visited many more European cities: Vienna, Brussels, Antwerp and others.

Only at the end of his life, Erasmus settled in Basel, where he lived a rather closed life and died in 1536 at the sixty-seventh year of his life.

Philosophical teaching

According to the philosopher himself, some of his works, which brought unprecedented popularity, were written "out of nothing to do" in moments of rest. For example, his most famous book "Praise of Stupidity" was published more than forty times during the author's lifetime alone.

The author believed that this book will be eternal, since human stupidity is eternal. Even the wisest of people sometimes does stupid things, so stupidity can be considered the engine of progress. The book is soft satire, sometimes sarcasm breaks through, and sometimes we see irony.

The philosopher wisely, but not without a smile, proves that all the troubles of mankind come from human stupidity. Of course, it is quite difficult for the modern reader to read and understand this work because of the huge number of historical names and events, as well as the theological sophistry that fills the novel, but having understood the ideas of Erasmus, you involuntarily smile, agreeing with the great humanist living in the distant 15th century.

One of the first books "The Dagger of the Christian Warrior" - for the author himself served as a model for the behavior of a true Christian. According to the philosopher, a true Christian must protect and defend his values \u200b\u200bday after day, fight for them by any means and reject all temptations.

Erasmus, following Luther, believed that it was necessary to simplify Christian rituals, turn to the teachings of early Christians and understand exactly what values \u200b\u200bmade them firmly endure any torment and even go to execution for their faith.

Only strict moral rules established by Jesus Christ himself can serve as a model for the behavior of a true Catholic. The main goal of a Christian is to help his neighbor and realize the ideas of the Lord, since they were written in doctrine, without distortion and scholasticism.

The main ideas of the philosophy of Erasmus of Rotterdam

It is interesting that the quotes and aphorisms of the great humanist and philosopher are relevant in our time.

“Grant light, and darkness will disappear by itself” - how many philosophers and poets, both before and after him, compared education with light and made it clear that only the light of reason is able to defeat universal stupidity.

"Nothing is impossible for a person who has a strong will" - throughout his life the philosopher confirmed this statement, since in one of the first books he had already established the rules of behavior for a true Christian and followed his precepts until the end of his life.

“Language is the best assistant for establishing good neighborly relations,” Erasmus believed that people with reason and moral principles can and should do without violence and be able to negotiate.

“Happiness is mainly about accepting your own destiny and learning to be content with what you have” is the greatest thought, diligently cultivated by many philosophers in many countries. A person can be happy at will, for this he must learn to enjoy what he has and be content with his present position. No wealth and nobility will give real happiness if there is no peace and purpose in life in the soul.

Since Erasmus studied the works of the authors of antiquity and was perfectly familiar with their philosophy, then his views on ethics were somewhat different from those generally accepted at that time. The Italian philosophers of the Renaissance believed that each person can be the center of the Universe, but for this he must become like his Lord - Jesus, understand and accept with all his soul his teachings and literally fulfill His commandments.

But the philosopher's contemporaries, in his own opinion, are far from perfect, and even the Church and the State support the unrighteous path of their parishioners. In his religious views, the philosopher fancifully combined the Christian teaching and the vision of the ancient authors of a universal religion capable of satisfying all spiritual needs.

Eden, according to Erasmus of Rotterdam, resembles the Republic described by Plato and Aristotle in their writings. The philosopher believes that the canonical church, in a constant thirst for profit, took away the purity of thoughts from Christians. Now, the main thing that is necessary for a true believer is to achieve spiritual cleansing, renounce false values \u200b\u200band follow Christ's heart and faithfully fulfill the commandments of the Lord.

It must be said that not only Catholic clergymen disagreed with the philosopher's theories, but also Protestants believed that the scientist was oversimplifying theology and giving more freedom to man himself, as the master of his fate.

Teaching about pedagogy

The teachings of Erasmus of Rotterdam is built on Christian "humanism", which teaches to love and respect all people without exception. The main tenets of pedagogy are as follows:

• A person is born without moral foundations and only in the process of upbringing receives the concept of good and evil,
• Only the mind is basic driving force any person,
• Since everyone has the will and freedom of choice, everyone is responsible for their actions,
• Since everyone has reason and free will, then the world can very well exist without war and violence.

In the Middle Ages, very little was said about the special world of the child and his needs. The philosopher, after a long break (since antiquity), began to talk about the fact that a child needs correct upbringing, which should be carried out by reasonable parents and correctly selected teachers.

In the process of education, it is necessary to take into account:

• The age and physiological characteristics of each child and do not require anything exceeding his strength,
• The inclinations and abilities of each child. A good teacher should be able to recognize embryonic tendencies and skillfully develop them.

The philosopher's teaching on pedagogy was extremely new and revolutionary for his time. But his views on education have not lost their relevance to this day.

Erasmus of Rotterdam (Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus) - scientist, philosopher, writer of the late 15th - first half of the 16th centuries.

• How did you glorify yourself? The appearance of this thinker marked the beginning of the development of the ideas of humanism in the European world of the Renaissance.

Erasmus of Rotterdam was born on October 28, 1469 (or 1467) in the town of Gouda, a suburb of Rotterdam. Gouda is located at the intersection of the routes from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and from Utrecht to The Hague (Den Haag).

His father was the son of wealthy burghers, who was preparing for the profession of a clergyman. Love for an ordinary girl forced her to abandon her career, but the lovers never got married, and the out-of-wedlock child, named Gerrit Gerritszoon, grew up and was brought up with his mother. The name given at birth was transformed under the influence of the Latin language into Desiderius Erasmus. The addition of Rotterdam indicates the place where the thinker lived.

Erasmus attended primary school in his hometown, then the Geert Groot school in Deventer, where ancient literature was studied. After at the age of 13 he lost both his father and mother, who died during the plague, Erasmus ends up in a monastery. This happened because the illegitimate person in those days could not hope to take any important and monetary post.

Erasmus lived in the monastery of the Augustinian monks from 1486 to 1492, taking the monastic dignity in 1492, tirelessly studying Latin and Ancient Greek, mastering the sciences, reading philosophical and artistic works of antiquity, mastering the skill of public speaking.

Erasmus is making progress, and he is invited to serve as a secretary, leading the lord's correspondence in Latin, to the bishop in the city of Cambrai in northern France. And from 1493 he went to Paris and continued his education there until 1499. An important milestone in his biography was his acquaintance with Lord Mountjoy, who invites Erasmus on a joint trip to London. There Erasmus met with the great utopian philosopher Thomas More, the theologian philosopher John Colet, and Bishop John Fisher. There is a meeting with the future king of England, Henry VIII (Henry VIII). Since that time, many years of friendship and correspondence between Dutch and English thinkers have been established.

Since 1499, after returning to France, Erasmus travels: Orleans, Leuven, Rotterdam. In 1505-1506, Erasmus's dream of wandering around Italy came true: Turin (Turijn), Bologna (Bologna), Florence (Florence), Venice (Venetië), Padua (Padua), Rome (Rome). He was enthusiastically received at the University of the city of Turin, having been awarded a doctorate in theology, he was greeted by the Pope himself (De Paus), allowing him to wear clothes according to the rules of those countries in which Erasmus finds himself.

In 1506, Erasmus went to England, having received invitations to teach at Oxford (Oxford) and Cambridge (Cambridge) and with the support of King Henry VIII.

Having received simultaneously an invitation to become a professor at Oxford and Cambridge, Erasmus chose Cambridge, since his like-minded John Fisher was the head of this university. Erasmus teaches ancient Greek and theology based on his own translation and interpretation of the New Testament (Het Nieuwe Testament).

This approach to teaching theology was innovative, as Erasmus of Rotterdam criticized medieval theologians such as Thomas Van Aquino, who cite the Bible without considering the meaning of this great book.

In 1511, Erasmus of Rotterdam received the title of professor of theology at the University of Cambridge.

In 1513, the thinker moved to Germany, traveled a lot around this country, in 1515 he returned to England, and in 1516 settled in Basel under the patronage of Charles V of Habsburg (Carl Spaans, Keizer Karel V Van Habsburg) ... The philosopher is hired as an advisor to the king with a salary of 400 florins. This position allows you to do a lot of science, travel: Erasmus visits Brussels (Brussel), Antwerpen (Antwerpen), Freiburg (Freiburg), etc.

Artworks

Paris became the city of the birth of the first works of Erasmus of Rotterdam. The first published book - "Adagia", a collection of aphorisms and instructive funny stories, compiled on the basis of books by ancient authors. This book brought fame to the author throughout Europe.

In 1501, a treatise on the topic of religion and ethics called "The Weapon of the Christian Warrior" appeared, published in 1504. Here Erasmus showed what he considers to be the main thing in the Christian religion: not thoughtlessly performed rituals, but the constant spiritual self-improvement of a person striving to comply with the commandments of Christ.

His central work was written during a trip to England in 1509 - Praise of Folly, in which he criticized medieval scholastic theology.

The Praise of Folly was published in Paris in 1511 and was reprinted 7 times in one year., during the life of a philosopher - more than 40 times, and before late XIX century - more than 200 times, including translations into different languages.

The book presents a satirical view of the writer on humanity with its vices, prejudices, mistakes that are repeated from century to century and have a universal character and have not lost their relevance in our time.

Another reason for its popularity is the general tone of the book, which is filled with humor, but not sarcasm, irony, but not cruel denunciation, a kind of satirical optimism. The piece has become an elegant parody of Foolishness praising itself. The book of the great humanist is filled with faith in a person who can overcome his shortcomings.

Already in the first works, Erasmus shows the unity in one person of the writer, scientist and philosopher. His works had a tremendous impact on the minds of his contemporaries, bringing the author the title of "European Oracle". Erasmus' literary and journalistic works begin to shape the views, life position of a person in the 16th century.

Erasmus was in correspondence with several kings (King of England Henry VIII Tudor, King of France Francis I of Valois; Hendrik VIII Tudor, Frans I van Valois, etc.), with the Pope, with scientists and statesmen. Many of these dignitaries asked for his advice and support.

Important works appear in 1515 and 1516: "The Admonition of the Christian Sovereign" and "Complaint of the World"... These books expressed the writer's protest against wars, the aggressive policy of European states, enmity between countries and peoples, and were a hot appeal for peace.

In 1524, a treatise "On Free Will" was created, where he spoke out against the ideas of the Reformation. In 1533, the work "On the Desired Church Consent" appeared, calling for peace and mutual respect for representatives of different religious views and trends. Over the course of several years, from 1518 to 1533, the book "Conversations Easily" was created, dedicated to the problems of pedagogy.

What glorified himself in theology and philology

Philology became the first direction of his research. He is with young years fell in love with antique books, so he was engaged in collecting, translating and interpreting the works of ancient writers. For example, he performed translations and prepared the publication of the works of the famous ancient Greek tragedian Euripides, the ancient Greek satirist and the first science fiction writer in the history of literature, Lucian, and others.

At the same time, he writes works about the ancient greek, considers questions of phonetics of this ancient language. Many of the scientist's conclusions are still relevant and underlie the studies of the language of Ancient Greece.

An important area was theology - scientific research texts of the Gospel and the Epistles of the Holy Apostles, their bold interpretation. Unwillingly, Erasmus laid the prerequisites for the emergence of the Protestant movement within the Christian religion.

Another direction of the scientist's research is pedagogy. Erasmus of Rotterdam is considered the founder of humanistic pedagogy. He formulated his views in the works "On the initial education of children", "On the good manners of children", "Conversations", "Method of teaching", "The way to write letters", etc.

Ideas of humanistic pedagogy

Until now, the statements of Erasmus of Rotterdam are leading in the theory of education and upbringing:

• Personality is not an innate phenomenon, it is formed under the influence of education;
• The most important direction of education and upbringing is the intellectual development of the individual in combination with the formation of morality and religious beliefs, as well as physical development;
• The task of upbringing is to reveal the inclinations of a pupil in his vigorous activity, and above all in work;
• Each person is worthy of respect, so he has a will and is the subject of any occurring events;
• A person is responsible for his actions, etc.

Erasmus was the first to point out that every child deserves a careful and respectful attitude, as it is the whole world, melting the spark of God. The philosopher opposed violence, any punishments used in the process of teaching and upbringing, and also expressed the idea of \u200b\u200bcompulsory general public education.

Interesting are the ideas that a child's education should be started from the age of 3, and from the first steps it should be scientific.

At the initial stages, languages \u200b\u200b(Latin and Ancient Greek) should be studied, since it is at an early age that the child quickly learns languages. Teaching young children should be built in a form that is pleasant for the child and understandable for him, while offering the child a large number of memorization tasks.

Any education should be built on the basis of mutual respect and love between teacher and student.

Ideas of the great humanist

Erasmus of Rotterdam was distinguished by liveliness and mobility, life optimism, openness and sociability, interest in learning new things. He turned out to be one of the people who are not attached to any country... He felt neither Dutch, which he was by birth, nor German, which was his place of residence and service. He recognized himself as a citizen of the world, treated all countries equally. He did not attach importance to the nationality of a person, and considered ancient Greece and Rome the closest to himself in spirit.

This belonging to all countries and to none at the same time, apparently, and led him to Basel, which had the status of a city outside states and outside politics.

Throughout his life, Erasmus of Rotterdam was faithful to his own views on the structure of society and religion, did not become a supporter of any of the reform movements in the church. The integrity of his views, the desire for peace and mutual respect made him a great figure who proclaimed the ideas of true humanism.

Quotes

1. Wise nature is admirable, ad infinitum and makes everyone equal.
2. Language is the most effective means of achieving mutual understanding and peace.
3. There is no such imperfect world that would be worse than any brilliantly won war!
4. Rulers have more powerful power than enlightenment, they listen more to the voices of greed than of the mind.

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Erasmus of Rotterdam - the representative of the transalpine humanism

It is usually customary to talk about the Renaissance in relation to Italy, because it was in this country that they began to talk about the Renaissance of ancient culture. However, one of the main features of this period, namely humanistic philosophy, became characteristic not only of the Mediterranean countries, but also penetrated the Alps. Therefore, the culture of the northern states of the XV-XVI centuries is also called the Northern Renaissance.

One of the most famous and popular to this day of its representatives is a man whose real name - Gerhard Gerhards - is known to few, but almost everyone knows his pseudonym. This is Erasmus of Rotterdam. The biography of this Dutch thinker tells us that, despite his illegitimate origin (he was the son of a priest), he lived a completely successful and happy life. He did not live anywhere for a long time, he always found patrons and patrons for himself. Among them was the Emperor Charles V, who appointed him to a position at court that brought income and honor, but practically did not require any effort from him.

Erasmus of Rotterdam: philosophy and satire

When the thinker studied at the Sorbonne, he was forced to cram late scholasticism there, methodologically already obsolete at that time. He was amazed at how seriously people can devote their whole lives to such fruitless pursuits.

These observations prompted Erasmus to write his best book - "Praise of stupidity." In those years, the literary genre of eulogy was popular. Under the guise of self-glorification of stupidity, Erasmus of Rotterdam writes satire on the entire society of his day, contrasting two images - the learned "donkey" and the wise jester. But with all this, despite the criticism of the clergy, the philosopher remained a "favorite" the mighty of the world this, including the Pope. Having become a teacher of the Greek language at Cambridge, the thinker translated many ancient manuscripts into Latin. Since the main place of stay in last years life he chose one of the Swiss cities, he was often called the "Basel hermit." But, unlike many Italian humanists, Erasmus of Rotterdam was deeply religious. One of his serious works is The Weapon of the Christian Warrior, where he proposes to combine the virtues of religion with the morality of the teachings of ancient antiquity.

Attitude towards the Reformation

Despite the fact that it was this philosopher who laid the foundations for a different, deeper reading of the texts of Scripture, requiring their correct translation, he was indeed one of those who paved the way for the Reformation after the split of the Roman Catholic Church. He remained in her ranks and did not follow the Lutherans. He translated the New Testament into Latin, but he was frightened by a complete break with tradition.

Erasmus of Rotterdam believed that one can live in peace with the Catholic hierarchy if some compromises are made. In addition, ideological differences shared him with Luther. There is a well-known written controversy between these two great figures. Luther once admired Erasmus and his translations, but then he found it inappropriate for himself to stop halfway. He began to think that Scripture should also exist in German. If Erasmus believed that compromises were appropriate with the church, Luther believed that it had turned into a "hell's mouth," and there was nothing for a decent person to do. In addition, they had completely different ideas about a person. Under pressure from the Pope, Erasmus wrote a treatise entitled "On Free Choice", proving that his opinion is consistent with the opinion of the church. Luther, however, responded with the work "On the bondage of the will," saying that without grace, a person becomes a slave to evil. Which one was right?

The largest humanist of the entire Northern Renaissance was Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536). Having received his initial education at home, in Holland, at the school of “brothers common life”, In Deventer, Erasmus spent six years in a monastery, where he continued his fascinating studies of ancient languages. Acquaintance with the writings of Italian humanists, especially with the works of Lorenzo Valla, gave impetus to his transition from the position of "new piety" to the position of humanism.

He continued his education in Paris, lived for several years in England, improved his skills in the Greek language and published works in Italy, but most of all, having settled in Basel for a long time, he was associated with German humanism. Unlike the supporters of Celtis, he preferred the position of "citizen of the world" to national enthusiasm, and literary-philological and widely understood religious-ethical issues to natural and mathematical sciences.

The scope of his publishing and commentary activities was unprecedented: he published not only many Greek and Roman classics, but also the collected works of "church fathers", including Eastern, and other early Christian writers. Of particular importance was his publication of the New Testament, purified from distortions, with a new Latin translation, which corrected errors by the canonized Vulgate Church.

Erasmus systematized and developed the method and specific methods of criticizing the text, methods of its allegorical interpretation, developed by the Italian humanists. He used them not only in works of a religious and philosophical nature, but also in the publication of a compendium of ancient wisdom - a collection of more than three thousand proverbs and sayings of ancient authors, supplied with his own commentaries.

In contrast to scholasticism, which Erasmus sharply criticized (although he did not completely outlive his dependence on it), he was interested not in questions of the transcendence of deity, but in the ways of practical piety. He saw its basis in a person's awareness of the divine principle, hidden in the earthly world and manifested in the spiritual and moral life of people. In this doctrine, the main features of which were already expressed in the early work of Erasmus - "Instructions for the Christian Warrior" (1501), mystical ideas and emerging rationalism were intertwined.

Erasmus' ideas, especially his anthropology, contributed to the development of pantheistic tendencies in philosophy of the 16th century. Erasmus assessed the best intellectual, moral, volitional qualities of a person, the improvement of his natural forces and abilities as a manifestation of the action of the divine spirit in a person. He attached great importance to education and upbringing in their unity - they fill the "gaps left by nature", enable a person to "push the boundaries of his lot."

Justifying the need to be guided by reason, to consciously follow in practical life the laws of piety and high morality, which were identified by Erasmus with the teaching of Christ, he used the humanistically interpreted concept of "imitation of Christ", and called his position as a whole "the philosophy of Christ."

Hence the concept of Erasmus, which belongs to the central in his work - the right to consider Christian "everything that is true that you have ever come across." This approach made it possible to look for examples of genuine wisdom and virtue outside the framework of orthodox Catholicism among representatives of different times and peoples, among people of different confessions, in the works of ancient pagan authors.

The dogmatic certainty of Christianity in the works of Erasmus was eroded, the achievements of pagan culture were no longer considered as something hostile to Christianity, on the contrary, they were understood as the basis for the further development of the culture of mankind. The assimilation and dissemination of humanistic education thus acquired the role of the primary virtue of a true Christian.

Although Erasmus was in a hurry to stipulate that secular education only prepares for the perception of higher theological truths, in his works he concentrated all the power of talent and the broadest erudition on the promotion of humanistic culture.

In his "philosophy of Christ" Erasmus argued that personal ideals and human actions should be consistent with the moral laws of the "common good", excluding the egoistic narrowness of individual or group interests. In "Instructions to the Christian Warrior" he emphasized that this should be the ethics of both the ruler and his subjects, mutually ready to compromise for the sake of peace and the common good.

In a concrete criticism of modern society from the standpoint of this theoretical and practical teaching, Erasmus acted as a mercilessly ironic denouncer of ignorance and vices of all classes, primarily clergy and monasticism, an opponent of formalism and ritualism in church piety.

All this, including Erasmus' sarcastic mockery of the fruitless intricacies of scholasticism, superstitions, and many class prejudices, was perceived in the context of the impending Reformation as a bold attack on the existing ecclesiastical and, in part, social order.

Erasmus turned not only to religious and philosophical, but also to the main political issues of his era. He hoped to correct the shortcomings of society by spreading a new culture and education, restructuring the spiritual life of people. It was supposed to be, in his words, "a peaceful victory."

He sharply opposed internecine wars and, recognizing the need to defend the fatherland, resolutely condemned wars as a method of resolving controversial issues, saw in them a national calamity, an obstacle to the development of culture.

Erasmus considered the enlightenment of society to be a panacea for the many evils and troubles inherent in him, and it is no coincidence that pedagogy, inextricably linked with ethics, became the core of all humanist activities.

Erasmus' many-sided creativity had a powerful impact on European culture in the 16th century, and his strong influence was felt in the 17th century. His works were considered examples of eloquence and elegant Latin. I was attracted by the lively ease of his communication with the reader, the richness of intonation, love for a subtle joke, the ability to use an ancient aphorism or an example from the Holy Scriptures in time.

His masterpiece of social and moral criticism, Praise of Stupidity, which combines the power of satire, irony, elegance of style, as well as a kind of encyclopedia of his pedagogical and ethical ideas, a cycle of dialogues "Home Conversations" ("Conversations Easily"), has become especially popular over the centuries. ...