Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (Latin Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, Dutch Gerrit Gerritszoon) real name Gerhard Gerhards
Biography
He was born on October 28, 1466, in Gouda (20 km from Rotterdam) in what is now the Netherlands. His father, who belonged to one of the burgher families of the town of Gouda (at the crossroads of the roads Rotterdam-Amsterdam and The Hague-Utrecht), was carried away in his youth by one girl who reciprocated him. The parents, who had predetermined their son for a spiritual career, resolutely opposed his marriage. The lovers, nevertheless, became close and the fruit of their relationship was a son, to whom the parents gave the name Gerhard, that is, desired, - the name from which, by means of the usual Latinization and Greekization at that time, his double literary pseudonym Desiderius Erasmus was subsequently formed, which forced forget his real name.
Education
He received his primary education first at the local elementary school; from there he moved to Deventer, where he entered one of the schools founded by the “communal fraternities”, the programs of which included the study of the ancient classics. He was 13 years old when his parents died. Some timidity, sometimes bordering on cowardice, as well as a certain amount of secrecy - these traits of his character that did a lot of harm to him in life are explained, to a large extent, by his early orphanhood, aggravated, in addition, by illegitimate birth, which in the eyes of the then society imposed a stamp of shame on the child. The latter circumstance had another, more real meaning: it closed to him in advance any public career, from the world where he was an outcast, the young man had only to retire to a monastery; after some hesitation, he did so.
Monastery
Erasmus already did not feel much attraction to monastic life; now, coming face to face with all the dark sides that characterized the monastic life of that time, he was imbued with a sincere and deep disgust for the latter.
Those stinging arrows that rain down on the monks in the later satirical works of Erasmus are to a large extent an echo of the thoughts and feelings that he experienced during his involuntary stay in the hateful monastery walls. Several years spent by Erasmus in the monastery were not lost, however, for him in vain. Monastic life left the inquisitive monk a lot of free time, which he could use to read his favorite classical authors and to improve his knowledge of Latin and Greek.
The successes that he managed to achieve in this area, Erasmus was obliged by the opportunity to escape into the open space from under the cloister vaults that choked him. The gifted young monk, who drew attention to himself with outstanding knowledge, a brilliant mind and an extraordinary art of mastering elegant Latin speech, soon found himself influential patrons.
Thanks to the latter, Erasmus could leave the monastery, give scope to his long-standing inclinations to humanistic science and visit all the main centers of humanism of that time. First of all, he came to Cambrai, then to Paris, the latter was at that time much more a center of scholastic learning than of humanistic learning, which was just beginning to build a nest here.
Confession
Be that as it may, here Erasmus published his first major work - Adagia, a collection of sayings and anecdotes extracted from the writings of various ancient writers. This book made the name of Erasmus famous in humanistic circles throughout Europe. After several years in France, Erasmus traveled to England, where he was greeted with cordial hospitality and honor, as a well-known humanist.
He made friends here with many humanists, especially with Thomas More, author of the novel "Utopia", John Colet, and later with John Fisher and Prince Henry, the future King Henry VIII. Returning from England in 1499, Erasmus leads a nomadic life for some time; we meet him successively in Paris, Orleans, Louvain, Rotterdam. After a new trip to England, in 1505-1506, Erasmus finally got the opportunity to visit Italy, where his humanistic soul had long attracted.
Here, in the homeland of humanism, Erasmus, already crowned with glory, met with an honorable, sometimes enthusiastic reception. The University of Turin presented him with a diploma for the title of honorary doctor of theology; Pope, as a token of his special favor to Erasmus, gave him permission to lead a lifestyle and dress in accordance with the customs of each country where he had to live.
After two years in Italy, or, rather, traveling through Italy, because we see Erasmus successively in Turin, in Bologna, in Florence, in Venice, in Padua, in Rome, - Erasmus went for the third time to England, where he was urgently invited by his friends there, and where, shortly before, his great admirer, Henry VIII, had ascended the throne. During this journey, according to Erasmus himself, he wrote the famous satire "Praise of Stupidity." Oxford and Cambridge universities offered him a professorship.
Teaching in Cambridge
Erasmus chose Cambridge, where one of his close acquaintances, Bishop Fisher, was the "Chancellor of the University". Here Erasmus taught Greek for several years, as one of the rare experts in this language at that time, and taught theological courses, which he based on the original text of the New Testament. This was a great innovation at that time, since most theologians of that time continued to follow in their courses the medieval, scholastic method, which reduced all theological science to the study of treatises by Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas, and a few other favorite medieval authorities.
Erasmus devoted several pages to characterizing these adherents of scholastic theology in his Praise of Folly.
“They are so absorbed in their delicious nonsense that, spending days and nights behind them, they no longer find a minute of time to turn over the pages of the Gospel or the Epistles of the Apostle Paul at least once. But, engaging in their learned nonsense, they are quite sure that the universal church rests on their syllogisms as well as the sky on the shoulders of Atlas, and that without them the church would not have lasted even a minute.
No matter how firmly, apparently, Erasmus was based in England, but four years passed - and he was again drawn to other places. He referred to the inhospitable and unhealthy climate of England, but here, perhaps, the habit of frequent change of place acquired by all previous nomadic life had an effect, to a much greater extent.
In 1513 Erasmus traveled to Germany. The two years he spent here were two years of new travel throughout Germany. Here he met Ulrich Tsaziy.
But soon he was drawn to England, where he went again in 1515.
At the court of Charles V
The following year, he again migrated to the continent, and for good.
This time, Erasmus found himself a powerful patron in the person of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles of Spain (future Emperor Charles V). The latter granted him the rank of “royal adviser”, which was not associated with any real functions, or even with the obligation to stay at court, but gave a salary of 400 florins. This created a completely secure position for Erasmus, relieving him of all material worries, and made it possible to devote himself entirely to his passion for scientific pursuits. Since then, indeed, the scientific and literary productivity of Erasmus has been aggravated. The new appointment, however, did not force Erasmus to abandon his restlessness; we meet him in Brussels, in Louvain, in Antwerp, in Freiburg, in Basel. Only in the last years of his life did he finally establish his settlement in the last of these cities, where he ended his days; he died on the night of 11/12 July 1536.
Characteristics of philosophy, nationality
Erasmus belongs to the older generation of German humanists, the "Reuchlin" generation, although one of the younger representatives of the latter (he was 12 years younger than Reuchlin); but by the nature of his literary activity, by its satirical tinge, he is already largely adjacent to the humanists of the younger, "Hutten" generation. However, he cannot be completely attributed to any specific group of humanists: he was “a man in himself,” as someone characterizes him in Letters from Dark People (see Gutten).
Erasmus, indeed, is a special, independent and completely individual value in the environment of German humanism. To begin with, Erasmus was not even in the strict sense a German humanist; he can rather be called a European, international humanist. A German by his belonging to the empire, a Dutchman by blood and birthplace, Erasmus least of all resembled a Dutchman in his mobile, lively, sanguine temperament, and perhaps that is why he so soon strayed from his homeland, to which he never found no special attraction. Germany, with which he was bound by citizenship to the "emperor", and in which he spent most of his wandering life, did not become his second home; German patriotism, which animated the majority of German humanists, remained completely alien to Erasmus, like any patriotism in general. Germany was in his eyes no more his homeland than France, where he spent some of the best years of his life.
Erasmus himself was quite indifferent to his nationality. “They call me Batav,” he says in one of his letters; - but personally I'm not quite sure; it may very well be that I am Dutch, but we must not forget that I was born in that part of Holland, which is much closer to France than to Germany. In another place, he expresses himself in a no less characteristic way: "I do not at all want to say that I am a Frenchman, but I do not find it necessary to deny this either." We can say that the real spiritual home of Erasmus was the ancient world, where he really felt at home.
His real native language was Latin, which he spoke with the ease of an ancient Roman; it was found that he spoke Latin much better than his native Dutch, German and French.
It is also characteristic that at the end of his life, Erasmus, after long wanderings around the world, chose the imperial city of Basel as a place of permanent residence, which, in its geographical and political position and in the composition of its population, had an international, cosmopolitan character.
Influence on contemporaries
Erasmus occupies a very special place in the history of German humanism also for that unprecedented honorable and influential position in society, which - for the first time in European history - a man of science and literature received in his person.
Before Erasmus, history does not know of a single such phenomenon, and such a thing could not have happened before the spread of printing, which gave people thoughts an unprecedentedly powerful tool of influence.
After Erasmus, for the entire continuation of modern history, only one analogous fact can be pointed out: that completely exceptional position that fell to the lot of Voltaire at the apogee of his literary glory, in the second half of the 18th century. “From England to Italy,” says one contemporary of E., “and from Poland to Hungary, his glory thundered.” The most powerful sovereigns of Europe at that time, Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, popes, cardinals, prelates, statesmen and the most famous scientists considered it an honor to be in correspondence with him. The papal curia offered him a cardinality; the Bavarian government expressed its readiness to give him a large pension just for him to choose Nuremberg as his place of permanent residence. During the trips of Erasmus, some cities arranged solemn meetings for him, as a sovereign. He was called the "oracle of Europe", not only people of science turned to him for advice - on various scientific and philosophical issues, but also statesmen, even sovereigns - on various political issues. As a humanist, Erasmus is closest to Reuchlin: both of them are outstanding bearers of that scientific spirit, the spirit of research and exact knowledge, which is one of the most essential features in the characterization of humanism in general.
Philologist
Like Reuchlin, he worked hard on collecting the manuscripts of classical authors and on critical editions of their writings. Along with Reuchlin, Erasmus was one of the few connoisseurs of the Greek language and literature at that time. The authority that Erasmus enjoyed in the field of Greek philology can be judged, for example, by the fact that his opinion regarding the way of pronouncing certain vowels of the Greek alphabet (etas and diphthongs) was universally recognized both in Germany and in some other countries, contrary to an ingrained tradition supported by the authority of the Greek teachers.
Theologian
Erasmus was also the first to apply on a large scale the scientific methods of work in the field of theology. His critical editions of the New Testament and the Church Fathers laid the foundation for scientific theology in the West [source not specified 456 days], instead of the scholasticism that had prevailed until then. In particular, Erasmus largely set the stage for Protestant theology [source not specified 456 days], not only with his editions of theological texts, but in part also with some of his theological ideas (for example, with his doctrine of free will).
Thus, Erasmus, who, especially in the later period of his life, persistently denied any solidarity with both Luther and other church reformers, turned out, against his will, in the role of one of the founders of Protestant dogma [source not specified 456 days ]. At this point, the literary and scientific activity of Erasmus is in positive contact with the reform movement; but it comes into contact with the latter also - and, perhaps, to a greater extent - in a negative way, since in his satirical works Erasmus exposes various negative aspects of contemporary church reality in the Catholic world.
Satirist
Of the satirical works, thanks to which his scientific and literary activity received wide social significance and determined his prominent place not only in the history of literature, but also in general history, the “Praise of Stupidity” (Mori?-Encomium, sive Stultiti? Laus ). This small work was written by Erasmus - in his own words, from nothing to do - during a long, with the then communications, his move from Italy to England in 1509. Erasmus himself looked at this work of his as a literary trinket - but he owes his literary celebrity and his place in history to this trinket, in any case, no less than to his multi-volume scientific works. Most of the latter, having served in their time, have long since fallen asleep in the book depositories, under a thick layer of age-old dust, while the "Praise of Folly" continues to be read to this day, by relatively few in the Latin original, but, one might say, by all in translations that are currently available in all European languages (including Russian), and thousands of educated people continue to read this brilliant joke of the most witty of scientists and the most learned of witty people that the history of world literature knows. Since the advent of the printing press, this was the first truly colossal success of a printed work.
Published for the first time in Paris in 1509, Erasmus' satire ran up to seven editions in a few months; in all, during his lifetime, it was reprinted in different places at least 40 times. Published in 1898 by the Directorate of the University Library in Ghent (Belgium), the "preliminary" and, therefore, the list of editions of Erasmus' works to be supplemented includes more than two hundred editions for the "Praise of Stupidity" (including translations).
This unparalleled success is explained by many circumstances, among which the name of the author, already loud even then, played an important role; but its main conditions lay in the work itself, in its successful conception and its brilliant execution. Erasmus had a good idea - to look at the modern reality surrounding him, as well as at all of humanity, at the whole world from the point of view of stupidity.
This point of view, proceeding from such a universal property inherent in “all times and peoples” as stupidity, gave the author the opportunity, touching on a lot of burning issues of our time, at the same time to give his observations of the surrounding reality the character of universality and adherence to principles, to highlight the private and the individual. , accidental and temporary from the point of view of the universal, permanent, regular, draw a satirical portrait of all mankind. This universal character, being one of the attractive aspects of the work for contemporary readers of the author, at the same time protected him from oblivion in the future. Thanks to him, "Praise of Stupidity" took its place among the ageless works of the human word - not because of the artistic beauty of the form, but because of the presence of that universal element that makes it understandable and interesting for every person, no matter what time, no matter what nation no matter what class of society he belongs to. Reading the satire of E., sometimes you involuntarily forget that it was written four hundred years ago, to such an extent it is fresh, vital and modern.
The dominant tone of Erasmus' satire is humorous rather than sarcastic. His laughter is permeated mainly with benevolent humor, often with subtle irony, almost never with scourging sarcasm. In the satirist, one feels not so much an indignant moralist with a frown and a pessimistic view of the environment, but a cheerful humanist who looks at life with optimistic complacency and sees in its negative sides mostly an excuse to laugh heartily and joke.
In its form, The Praise of Stupidity is a parody of the panegyric, a form that was very popular at the time; the original thing here is only that the panegyric in this case is not pronounced on behalf of the author or another extraneous speaker, but put into the mouth of the most personified stupidity.
teacher
The main ideas on which the pedagogy of Erasmus is built:
- People are not born, but are made through education;
- Reason makes a man;
- A person has free will, and only therefore is his moral and legal responsibility possible;
- He opposed all violence and wars;
- A child must be properly educated from birth. It's better if the parents do it. If they cannot do it themselves, they must find a good teacher;
- The child must be given a religious, mental and moral education;
- Physical development is important.
He spoke out for the protection of the child, for the protection of childhood, which was fundamentally new in understanding childhood and the role of education, new in pedagogy. He believed that the child has the right to a proper upbringing. The inner world of a child is a divine world, and it cannot be treated with cruelty. He sharply opposed the cruelty of the medieval school, which he called the “torture chamber”, where you can’t hear anything except the noise of rods and sticks, cries of pain and sobs, frantic swearing. What else can a child take away from here, except hatred of science? Erasmus' protest against cruelty to children was the greatest act of humanism, marking the beginning of the search for forms of education that exclude violence. Erasmus rediscovered for the world such a phenomenon as the world of a child, the world of childhood.
Compositions
- "Praise of Stupidity"
- "Education of a Christian Sovereign"
- “The complaint of the world, expelled from everywhere and crushed everywhere”
Literature
The decomposition and specialization of humanism. Humanism in the second half of the 15th - early 17th centuries. (Erasmus of Rotterdam, Montaigne) - in: Gusev D. A., Manekin R. V., Ryabov P. V. History of Philosophy. Textbook for students of Russian universities - M .: "Eksmo", 2004. - ISBN 5-699-07314-0, ISBN 5-8123-0201-4
- Huizinga Johan. Culture of the Netherlands in the 17th century. Erasmus. Selected letters. Drawings / Comp., per. from the Netherlands and foreword. D. Silvestrov; Comment. D. Kharitonovich. - St. Petersburg: Ivan Limbakh Publishing House, 2009. 680 p., ill. ISBN 978-5-89059-128-9
- Kodzhaspirova G. M. History of education and pedagogical thought: tables, diagrams, reference notes. - M., 2003. - P. 48.
1. Erasmus of Rotterdam. Praise of Stupidity. - M.: Sov.Russia, 1991.
2. Subbotin A.L. A word about Erasmus of Rotterdam. - M .: Sov. Rossiya, 1991.
In 2011, under the auspices of UNESCO, the 500th anniversary of the first edition of Erasmus of Rotterdam's book "In Praise of Stupidity" is celebrated.
Hans Holbein the Younger. Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1523, London, National Gallery)
Erasmus of Rotterdam (Erasmus Roterodamus), Desiderius (Desiderius) (October 28, 1469, Rotterdam, - July 12, 1536, Basel), Dutch scientist, writer, humanist; editor and translator of ancient classics; first publisher of the New Testament in Greek; satirist. the most prominent representative of the Northern Renaissance. (In various sources, you can find other options for the year of his birth - 1467 or 1465).
His father, who belonged to one of the burgher families of the town Gouda(at the crossroads of Rotterdam-Amsterdam and The Hague-Utrecht), was carried away in his youth by one girl, the daughter of a doctor from Sevenbergen, who reciprocated him. The parents, who had predetermined their son for a spiritual career, resolutely opposed his marriage. The lovers, nevertheless, became close and the fruit of their relationship was a son, to whom the parents gave the name Gergard, that is, desired, - the name from which, by means of the usual Latinization and Greekization at that time, his double literary pseudonym Desiderius Erasmus was subsequently formed, which forced forget his real name, he was brought up in Holland - first in Gouda, and then in the school of monastic "brothers of common life" in Deventer. There he became acquainted with the treasures of the classical heritage rediscovered in Italy. At the age of fourteen, he lost his father and mother. This, aggravated by the seal of the illegitimate, predetermined some of his character traits - timidity, sometimes bordering on cowardice, a certain amount of secrecy. He understood that with such an inheritance, a public career would be inaccessible to him. Therefore, soon, after some hesitation, after studying for some time at school in Bois-le-Duc, succumbed to the persuasion of his guardian and took the veil as a monk. Reluctantly taking vows, he spent six years in the Augustinian monastery in Steine near Gouda, carving out time for self-education and zealous study of the ancient classics. Near 1493 he was allowed to leave the monastery to serve as Latin secretary to the Bishop of Cambrai, who released him in Paris to study. Creating the impression of immersion in medieval theology, meanwhile he enthusiastically studied Latin literature, took up Greek. In 1499 he traveled to England with his English student; the revival of classical antiquities; set the tone in the circle D.Colet, future pastor of St. Paul, and T.Mor.
He became friends here with Prince Henry, the future king Henry VIII. Returning from England to 1499 year, Erasmus leads a nomadic life for some time - successively visits Paris, Orleans, Louvain, Rotterdam. Upon his return to Paris in 1500, Erasmus of Rotterdam published his first book, Proverbs(Adagia), collecting in a small volume Latin and Greek sayings from various sources.
Massys. Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1517, Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica)
Since that time, Erasmus has worked hard for a twofold purpose: the return of Greek-Latin authors from oblivion, in which they were in the era of the Middle Ages, and the return to early Christian ideals, for which it was necessary to restore and publish an authentic text of the New Testament and the works of the Church Fathers. Erasmus was more of a moralist than a theologian, and therefore his teaching to his contemporaries was based not so much on dogma as on the very word of Christ. Dreaming of the transformation of the Roman Church, he did not accept the reforms initiated by Luther. Erasmus considered any war incompatible with the behavior of a Christian, disastrous for intellectual and spiritual life.
Accordingly, the writings of Erasmus fall into two categories: along with scientific works, he created the most original books, as if designed for simpler tastes, such as, for example, Praise of Stupidity(Morie Encomium Stultitiae Laus, 1511) and home conversations(Colloquii, 1519). Between these two semi-scientific, semi-popular writings, several successful editions of the Proverbs came out. Erasmus worked quickly and a lot, a huge collection of his works, although written only in Latin and imbued with an ancient worldview, well conveys the free spirit of their creator, his unique personality. He had many friends and left many curious and often amusing letters; more than 2,000 of them survived.
A few years after the first publication of Proverbs, he spent in need, traveling between Paris and the Netherlands, stubbornly mastering the Greek language. In 1503 Erasmus published Dagger(Instruction) of a Christian warrior (Enchiridion Militis Christiani), which does not fit into the range of his popular writings, because there is neither wit nor satire - only serious argument. Erasmus called for a simplification of Christianity, arguing that "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life," and religion - not the observance of certain obligations or the fulfillment of ritual conventions, but internal self-improvement.
AT 1506 he finally managed to go to Italy, receive a doctorate in Turin and spend about a year in Venice, where in 1508 he published an updated edition of the Proverbs. AT 1509 he visited Rome. In Italy, Erasmus met with an honorable, sometimes enthusiastic reception. Pope, as a token of his special favor to Erasmus, gave him permission to lead a lifestyle and dress in accordance with the customs of each country where he had to live. From Italy, he left for England, at the invitation of friends who associated hopes for the flourishing of humanism with the accession of Henry VIII. AT London Erasmus stopped at mora and sketched a funny sketch of the world - the famous Praise of Stupidity. AT 1511 It was printed in Paris and soon brought European fame to the author. He spent several years in Cambridge, serving from 1511 to 1514 as professor of Greek at Queen's College. Since 1506, supported by Colet, he cherished the idea of publishing a Greek text New Testament; in 1516 such a text was printed in Basel. Erasmus did not have the best manuscripts, and there are errors in the Basel edition of the New Testament, but nevertheless this edition (which was accompanied by a new translation into Latin) was the first of its kind and laid the foundations for modern biblical criticism. Most theologians of that time continued to follow in their courses the medieval, scholastic method, which reduced all theological science to the study of treatises by Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas, and several other favorite medieval authorities. Erasmus devoted several pages to characterizing these adherents of scholastic theology in his Praise of Folly.
Hans Holbein the Younger. Portrait of Erasmus (1523, Paris, Musée du Louvre)
Four years later, citing the inhospitable and unhealthy climate of England, in 1513 Erasmus traveled to Germany. The two years he spent here were two years of new travel throughout Germany. Here he met Ulrich Tsaziy. But soon he was drawn to England, where he again went to 1515 year. The following year, he again migrated to the continent, and for good.
This time, Erasmus found himself a powerful patron in the person of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles of Spain (future emperor Charles V). The latter granted him the rank of “royal adviser”, which was not associated with any real functions, or even with the obligation to stay at court, but gave a salary of 400 florins. This created a completely secure position for Erasmus, relieving him of all material worries, and made it possible to devote himself entirely to his passion for scientific pursuits. Since then, indeed, the scientific and literary productivity of Erasmus has been aggravated. The new appointment, however, did not force Erasmus to abandon his restlessness - he visited Brussels, Louvain, Antwerp, Freiburg, Basel.
Durer. Erasmus portrait. (c. 1520, Paris, Musée du Louvre)
He was never in good health, more and more often he was besieged by ailments, but he continued to work amazingly hard. He published or translated a huge number of ancient and patristic works, incl. authors such as Aristotle, Cicero, Demosthenes, Lucian, Livy, Suetonius, Ovid, Plautus, Plutarch, Terence, Seneca; creations of such fathers of the Church as Ambrose, Athanasius, Augustine, Basil, John Chrysostom, Jerome and Origen. Erasmus continued to make additions to the Proverbs and Conversations, which vividly and originally captured life in the 16th century. He also wrote many small treatises on various topics, incl. about the study of languages and teaching methods, about the correct pronunciation of Greek and Latin words, about the education of princes, about the worship of Cicero by Italian humanists, about restoring the unity of the Church and the need for peace. A volume of retellings of some passages of the New Testament was a huge success. Erasmus composed poetry, some of his prayers are used to this day. In addition to this work, striking in its scale, he constantly argued, defending and explaining his position. Until the end of his days, he was attacked from both sides: the extreme reformers considered him almost an apostate, while the orthodox accused Erasmus of "hatching the egg from which Luther hatched." But Erasmus remained with the Church, hostile to schisms and holding on to his own views in the midst of the violent religious turmoil that darkened his last days.
Hans Holbein the Younger, portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1530 (1530, Parma, Galleria Nazionale)
Only in the last years of his life did he finally establish his settled position in Basel where he ended his days; he died on the night of the 11th July 12, 1536.
The personality of Erasmus is multifaceted, and all its facets had a significant impact on European thought. Contemporaries saw him as a humanist, social reformer, wit and restorer of biblical texts. In the 18th century most of all appreciated his Praise of Stupidity and glorified its author as the forerunner of rationalism; 19th century extolled the peacefulness of Erasmus, his tolerance, and the 20th century. I read his letters and discovered in this great writer one of the most humane thinkers.
Hans Holbein the Younger. Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, (1532, Basel, Kunstmuseum)
The surviving extensive correspondence of Erasmus shines with aphorisms.
Politeness breeds and evokes politeness
To have many friends is to have none
Only a few, whose vile well-being depends on the people's grief, make wars
Love is the only way we can help another person
Humans are not born, but raised
A habit can only be defeated by another habit.
Victory goes to those who are not taken seriously
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
A German by his belonging to the empire, a Dutchman by blood and birthplace, Erasmus least of all resembled a Dutchman in his mobile, lively, sanguine temperament, and perhaps that is why he so soon strayed from his homeland, to which he never found no special attraction. Germany, with which he was bound by citizenship to the "emperor", and in which he spent most of his wandering life, did not become his second home; German patriotism, which animated the majority of German humanists, remained completely alien to Erasmus, like any patriotism in general. Germany was in his eyes no more his homeland than France, where he spent some of the best years of his life. Erasmus himself was quite indifferent to his nationality. “They call me Batav,” he says in one of his letters; - but personally I'm not quite sure about it; it may very well be that I am Dutch, but we must not forget that I was born in that part of Holland, which is much closer to France than to Germany. Elsewhere, he expresses himself in a no less characteristic way: "I do not at all want to say that I am a Frenchman, but I do not find it necessary to deny this either." We can say that the real spiritual home of Erasmus was the ancient world, where he really felt at home. His real native language was Latin, which he spoke with the ease of an ancient Roman. He spoke Latin much better than his native Dutch, German and French. It is also characteristic that at the end of his life, Erasmus, after long wanderings around the world, chose the imperial city of Basel as a place of permanent residence, which, in its geographical and political position and in the composition of its population, had an international, cosmopolitan character.
Durer A. Erasmus of Rotterdam (1526, Washington, National Gallery of Art)
"In Praise of Stupidity"(or Praise of Stupidity, lat. Moriae Encomium, sive Stultitiae Laus) is a satire of Erasmus of Rotterdam. The most famous of the satirical works of Erasmus of Rotterdam, thanks to which his scientific and literary activity received wide social significance and determined his prominent place not only in the history of literature, but also in world history. This small essay, according to the author, was written out of nothing to do - during a long, with the then communication routes, his move from Italy to England in 1509.
Hieronymus Bosch. Ship of fools (lazy people), (1495-1500)
Satire is written in the genre of ironic panegyric, which was due to a combination of two trends characteristic of the Renaissance: an appeal to ancient authors (therefore panegyric) and the spirit of criticism of the social way of life (therefore ironic).
The European Union marked the importance of "Praise of Stupidity" by issuing commemorative coins in 2009 and 2011, timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the book's writing (1509) and its publication (1511).
The 500th anniversary of the first edition of the book is celebrated in the world under the auspices of UNESCO.
Erasmus himself looked at this work of his as a literary trinket, but he owes his literary celebrity and his place in history to this trinket, in any case, no less than to his multi-volume scientific works. Most of the latter, having served in their time, have long since fallen asleep in the book depositories, under a thick layer of age-old dust, while the "Praise of Folly" continues to be read to this day, by relatively few in the Latin original, but, one might say, by all in translations currently available in all European languages (including Russian), and thousands of educated people continue to read this ingenious joke of the most witty of scientists and the most learned of witty people.
Since the advent of the printing press, this was the first truly colossal success of a printed work. Published for the first time in 1511, the satire of Erasmus of Rotterdam withstood up to seven editions in a few months; in total, during the life of the author, it was reprinted in different places at least 40 times. Published in 1898 by the Directorate of the University Library in Ghent (Belgium), a preliminary and, therefore, subject to addition list of editions of the works of Erasmus of Rotterdam has more than two hundred editions (including translations) for the Praise of Stupidity.
The names of two more famous people of their time - Thomas More and Hans Holbein the Younger - are associated with the book "Praise of Stupidity".
Erasmus of Rotterdam dedicated "The Praise of Stupidity" to his friend Thomas More.
Thomas More(1478-1535) - English humanist and politician.
Holbein Hans the Younger. Thomas More
Since 1504, a member of the opposition in Parliament, 1529 Lord Chancellor, after the break of Henry VIII with Rome in 1532, he resigned his rank. In 1535, for refusing to recognize the ecclesiastical supremacy of the king, he was beheaded. In his famous political novel Utopia (1516), he writes a sharp satire on England during the time of Henry VIII, outlines a plan for the reform of the social system and education in the spirit of the humane ideas of the Renaissance.
Cowper Frank Cadogan. Erasmus and Thomas More Visit the Children of Henry VII at Greenwich, 1499 (1910, London, The Houses of Parliament)
Holbein (Holbein), Hans the Younger(Holbein, Hans der Jungere). Born in the winter of 1497-1498, Augsburg - died 1543, London.
Holbein Hans the Younger. Self-portrait (1542, Uffizi Gallery)
German painter and graphic artist of the Renaissance. He studied with his father, the painter Hans Holbein the Elder. In 1515-1517, together with his brother Ambrosius, he was an apprentice with the painter G. Gerbster in Basel. In 1518-1519, apparently, he made a trip to northern Italy (Lombardy, Milan). From 1519 he joined the painters' guild and started his own workshop in Basel, where he remained until 1526. At the end of 1523 - the beginning of 1524, a trip to a number of cities in France (Lyon, Avignon, Amboise, etc.). In 1526-1528 and from 1532 until the end of his life he worked in London. Since 1536 - the court painter of the English king Henry VIII.
The brilliant portrait painter and draftsman Holbein began his creative career with a series of free, somewhat grotesque pen drawings on the margins of a printed copy of Erasmus' treatise The Rotterdam Praise of Stupidity (1515, Basel, Cabinet of Engravings) (82 drawings in total).
Folly in the Pulpit (no. 1)
A Scholar Treads on a Market Woman's Basket of Eggs (no. 3)A Scholar Treads on a Market Woman's Basket of Eggs
Sertorius and the Example of the Horses (no. 15)
Stag Hunt (no. 24)
A Fool Prays to St Christopher (no. 26)
Apelles Paints Aphrodite, revised in black by another hand (no. 32)
Two Women Dedicating Candles Before an Image of the Virgin (no. 54)
A Mathematical Scholar (no. 41)
A Theologian (no. 42)
Mars and Venus Caught in Bed by Vulcan (no. 43)
A Donkey Sings to the Accompaniment of a Harp, by Ambrosius Holbein (no. 55)
A Scholar at his Writing Desk, by Hans Holbein the Younger (no. 64)
1) E. as a representative of Christian humanism. See ticket 1.
2) Antique and folk tradition in the "Praise of Stupidity". Folk tradition is the tradition of books about fools (popular book about Til Eilenspiegel), carnival processions of fools led by the Prince of Fools, the Fool Pope and the Fool's Mother, etc. The ancient tradition is a form of panegyric.
3) The image of Stupidity. The main thesis here is the transition of stupidity into wisdom and vice versa. Based on this, try to understand the following.
In the first part of the "Eulogy" the thought is paradoxically pointed: Stupidity irrefutably proves its power over all life and over all its blessings. All ages and all classes, all feelings and all interests, all forms of ties between people and all worthy activities owe their existence and their joys to it. It is the basis of all prosperity and happiness. And here the question involuntarily arises: is this a joke or a serious one? But the whole image of the humanist Erasmus, in many respects like the prototype of Pantagruel Rabelais, excludes a bleak view of life as a chain of nonsense.
The satirical image of the "wise man" runs through the entire first "philosophical" part of the speech, and the characterization of this antipode of Stupidity sets off the main idea of Erasmus. Repulsive and wild appearance, hairy skin, dense beard, appearance of premature old age (ch. 17). Strict, big-eyed, keen on the vices of friends, cloudy in friendship, unpleasant (ch. 19). At the feast, he is sullenly silent and embarrasses with irrelevant questions. With its very appearance, it spoils all the pleasure of the public. If he intervenes in the conversation, he will scare the interlocutor, no worse than a wolf. If you need to buy or do something - this is a stupid blockhead, because he does not know the customs. In discord with life, hatred for everything around him is born (ch. 25). The enemy of all sensitivity, a kind of marble likeness of a man, devoid of all human properties. Not that monster, not that ghost, knowing neither love nor pity, like a cold stone. Supposedly nothing escapes him, he never errs, he weighs everything according to the rules of his science, he knows everything, he is always pleased with himself, he alone is free, he is everything, but only in his own thoughts. Everything that happens in life, he condemns, like madness. He does not grieve for a friend, for he himself is not a friend to anyone. This is the image of a perfect sage! Who would not prefer to him the last fool of the common people (ch. 30)?!
This is a complete image of a scholastic, a medieval armchair scientist, made up according to the literary tradition of this speech - under the ancient sage - a stoic. This is a rational pedant, rigorist and doctrinaire, the principle enemy of human nature. But from the point of view of living life, his bookish dilapidated wisdom is rather absolute stupidity.
All the diversity of human interests cannot be reduced to one knowledge, all the more abstract, bookish knowledge, divorced from life. And if reason opposes itself to life, then its formal antipode - stupidity - coincides with every beginning of life. Erasmus Morya is therefore life itself. It is a synonym for true wisdom that does not separate itself from life, while scholastic "wisdom" is a synonym for genuine stupidity.
The Moria of the first part is Nature itself, which does not need to prove its case by "crocodillites, sorites, horned syllogisms and other dialectical intricacies" (ch.19). The desire to be happy people owe love, friendship, peace in the family and society. The militant, gloomy "sage" whom the eloquent Morya puts to shame is, in its own way, a highly developed pseudo-rationalism of medieval scholasticism, where reason, put at the service of faith, pedantically developed a complex system of regulation and norms of behavior. The wretched mind of the scholastics is opposed by Morya - a new principle of Nature, put forward by the humanism of the Renaissance.
In Erasmus, pleasure and true wisdom go hand in hand.
The praise of Stupidity is the praise of the intelligence of life. The sensual principle of nature and the wisdom of the mind in the integral humanistic thought of the Renaissance do not oppose each other. The spontaneous-materialistic sense of life is already overcoming the Christian ascetic dualism of scholasticism.
Morya Erasmus - the substance of life in the first part of the speech - is favorable for happiness, indulgent and "on all mortals equally pours out its blessings." Feelings, the offspring of Morya, passions and agitations direct, serve as the whip and spurs of valor and induce a person to every good deed.
Morya, as "the amazing wisdom of nature" (ch. 22), is the trust of life in itself, the opposite of the abstract wisdom of the scholastics, who impose their prescriptions on life. Therefore, no state adopted the laws of Plato, and only natural interests (for example, the thirst for fame) formed public institutions.
Morya of nature actually turns out to be the true mind of life, and the abstract "reason" of the official teaching is recklessness, sheer madness. Morya is wisdom, and official "wisdom" is the worst form of Morya, genuine stupidity. Feelings that deceive us, according to philosophers, lead to reason; practice, not scholastic writings, to knowledge; passions, and not stoic dispassion, - to valor. In general, "Stupidity leads to wisdom" (ch.30). Already in the title and in the dedication (where Moria and "so far from her essence" Thomas More, Stupidity and humanistic wisdom) are brought together, the whole paradoxicality of the "Eulogy," is manifested, based on the author's dialectical view, according to which all things are in themselves opposites and " have two faces.
The second part of the "Eulogy" is devoted to "various types and forms of Stupidity. But it is easy to see that here not only the subject changes imperceptibly, but also the meaning invested in the concept of" stupidity ", the nature of laughter and its tendency. The very tone of the panegyric also changes dramatically Stupidity forgets its role, and instead of praising itself and its servants, it begins to resent the servants of Morya, resent, expose and scourge the “morins.” The humor turns into satire.
The subject of the first part is "general human states": the various ages of human life, the manifold and eternal sources of enjoyment and activity rooted in human nature. Moria there therefore coincided with Nature itself and was only conditional Stupidity - stupidity from the point of view of abstract reason. But everything has its measure, and the one-sided development of passions, like dry wisdom, turns into its opposite. Already chapter 34, which glorifies the happy state of animals that know no training, no knowledge and "obey one nature," is ambiguous. Does this mean that a person should not strive to "push the boundaries of his
lot" that he should become like animals? Doesn't this just contradict Nature, which endowed him with intellect? Therefore, the happy state in which fools, holy fools and feeble-minded people live does not convince us to follow the "bestial senselessness" of their existence (ch. 35). "A laudatory word of Stupidity" imperceptibly passes from a panegyric to nature to a satire on ignorance, backwardness, and inertia of social mores.
Intoxication and Bad manners (Ch. 8).
In the first part of the speech, Morya, as the wisdom of nature, guaranteed life a variety of interests, movement and comprehensive development. There she corresponded to the humanistic ideal of the "universal" man. But insane one-sided stupidity creates fixed, inert forms and types of human life: an estate of well-born cattle who boast of the nobility of origin (ch. 42), or merchants - savers, "the breed of all stupider and nastier" (ch. 48), ruining quarreling or hired warriors who dream of getting rich in war, mediocre actors and singers, orators and poets, grammarians and jurists. Philautia, the sister of Stupidity, now shows her other face. It gives rise to the complacency of different cities and peoples, the vanity of stupid chauvinism and self-deception (ch. 43). Happiness is deprived of its objective foundation in the nature of all living things, it already now "depends on our opinion about things ... and rests on self-deception" (ch.45). As a mania, it is already subjective and everyone goes crazy in their own way, finding their happiness in it. Like imaginary "stupidity"
nature, Moria was the link of every human society, now, as a genuine stupidity of prejudices, on the contrary, it corrupts society.
Especially gets in this part of the clergy.
(I hope, thanks to the repeated repetition of the same thing, you still caught something. I - almost.).
4) Features of laughter. Laughter \u003d folk-carnival laughter + satire (for satire, see above, it is in the second part of the work). Folk-carnival laughter - in the first. People's carnival laughter is aimed not at discrediting, but at the comic doubling of the world.
Tickets 7-8. Rabelais. Gargantua and Pantagruel. Bakhtin on the novel.
History of creation. The impetus for writing the book was the publication in 1532 in Lyon of an anonymous folk book “Great and invaluable chronicles about the great and huge Gargantua”. In the same 1532, Rabelais published as its supplement the book Terrible and Terrifying Acts and Feats of the Glorious Gargantua. It was signed with the pseudonym Alcofribas Nazier. Then she compiled the 2nd book of the entire novel. In it, R. adheres to the folk scheme of the novel: the childhood of the hero, youthful wanderings and exploits, etc. Along with Pantagruel, another hero of the epic, Panurge, comes forward. In 1534, R. - under the same pseudonym, the beginning of a story that was supposed to replace the folk book, entitled "The Tale of the Terrible Life of the Great Gargantua, Father of Pantagruel." Little remains of the folk book: gigantic dimensions, a ride on a giant mare, the theft of the bells of Notre Dame Cathedral. The third book - in 1546 under the real name. In 1547 all three books were condemned by the theological faculty of the Sorbonne.
The first brief edition of “4 Books of Heroic Deeds and Sayings of Pantagruel” was published in 1548, expanded in 52. 9 years after R.’s death, a book entitled “Sounding Island” was published under his name, and two more years later - under his own name. name is the complete fifth book. In all likelihood, this is a rough sketch of R., processed by one of his students or friends.
The basis for this canoe was: the grotesque satirical poetry of Italy, Lucian (and say - there is no satire!), the mystery of how Proserpina presented 4 devils to Lucifer (including Pantagruel, who causes thirst), fablios, farces.
Main themes and images. In book 1 - Gargantua - a kind, peace-loving giant king. In general, there are three such handsome men in the novel: Grangousier, Gargantua and Pantagruel. 3 thematic centers: - education of Gargantua. Contrasting medieval and renaissance education. But even in such a serious matter - the setting for a parody game (an exaggeration of the diligence that humanist educators demand.
War with Picrohol. The opposition of Picrochole and Gargantua is the opposition of the medieval and humanistic ruler.
Thelema monastery. This is, firstly, the opposition of the medieval monastery, + the utopia of the new world. Brother Jean is a product of the monastery walls and at the same time their mocking denial. The motto of the monastery - "Do what you want" - is in opposition to the monastic charter. This motto rallied people. People there are terribly educated: they know 5-6 languages, they can compose poems in them. In short, read this passage yourself and retell it.
In book 2: Pantagruel is a kind giant, a kind fellow, a glutton and a drinker. The motive of the thirst that accompanies the birth of P. is the thirst for knowledge and the ordinary thirst. The parallel of drinking and science runs throughout the book. A serious episode is G.'s letter to P. This is a manifesto of the Renaissance. It contains an apology for the sciences, an apology for the movement of history (this is where there are three stages, see ticket 1).
Bakhtin believes that book 3 is an organic continuation of the first two. All proportions change in it: the whole action is 30 days, Pantagruel is of normal size.
There are more serious things in 5 books, the folk-carnival basis is weakened. I didn't say anything about 4. Islands in 4-5 books. Most often they symbolize social institutions, values. There is no main character, all travelers. Pantagruel is exalted, Panurge is lowered. In 3 books, Panurge evokes sympathy by challenging the old rigid society. And 4-5 is not everywhere. In those episodes that appeared in 48, he is the same, and in those that in 52 he is emphatically cowardly (for example, the episode with the storm, Sausages). This, apparently, is due to the fact that Panurge and Pantagruel are different poles of the Divine nature. Pantagruel is an ideal person, Panurge is real. But the writers are disappointed in a real person => a decrease in the image of Panurge.
The novel ends with the fact that the Bottle said: "Trink", i.e. drink (in general and from the source of wisdom). Thus, it was a voyage to the truth. True, there is no final truth. In general, the journey reproduces the voyage of Jacques Cartier in the North. America.
3) Journalistic topicality. In general, what we talked about at the colloquium under this item is clearly not called that, but oh well.
The drought at the time of the birth of Pantagruel: it really was in 1532. The episode where Panurge buys indulgences and at the same time corrects his financial affairs: in 32, an extraordinary papal jubilee was held, and those churches that P. bypassed really got the right to sell indulgences.
Book. II Ch. 5 - an episode with a sculpture by Geoffroy de Lusignac. The names of persons, the names of localities, events, the angry appearance of the sculpture are genuine, everything is closely connected with the life of Rabelais himself. In 1524-27, he served as secretary to the Bishop and Abbe Mayese and often traveled from Mayese to Poitiers and back (P.'s route).
4) “G and P” as a carnivalized work. Carnival as a set of carnival-type celebrations is a syncretic spectacular form of a ritual character. The carnival expresses the people's truth about the world. This is life upside down. Here are all the participants. Features of the carnival attitude:
Here hierarchical relations are canceled => free familiar rel. between people => eccentricity (behavior that is unthinkable outside the carnival, which allows the hidden sides of the human personality to open up) => caranval misalliances (family. Relationships apply to absolutely everything. Everything that was disconnected approaches: the sacred with the profane, the high with the low etc.) à carnival profanity (carnival blasphemy, obscenities associated with the productive power of the earth and the body, parodies of sacred texts and sayings). The main carnival action is the jester crowning and dethroning the king. At the heart of this rite is the core of the carnival worldview - the pathos of change and change, death and renewal. Crowning-debunking is permeated with carnival categories: fam. Contact (debunking), misalliance (slave-king), profanation (playing with symbols of supreme power). Beatings and abuse are not of a domestic and private nature, but are symbolic actions aimed at ridiculing the “king”. In this system of images, the king is a jester. He is popularly elected, then publicly ridiculed, scolded and beaten. He dies and then is reborn. Therefore, swearing is answered by praise. Swearing-debunking, as the truth about the old power, about the dying world, organically enters the Rabelaisian system of images, combined here with carnival beatings with dressing up. The beating is as ambivalent as the curse that turns into praise. The one being beaten is decorated, the beating itself is of a cheerful nature, it is introduced and ends with laughter.
In short, the same thing, but simpler. Swearing and beatings are ambivalent (double) in nature. Everything that is beaten and scolded is old, it must be destroyed (like a Shrovetide effigy during a carnival). But when it dies, it gives birth to something new. Therefore, beatings are of a cheerful nature, and praise follows after scolding. Carnival is a celebration of the all-destroying and all-reviving time.
Now to specific examples. The debunking of King Picrochole - all elements of the traditional system of images (debunking, dressing, beating). In the same carnival spirit, the debunking of Anarch (he is dressed up, made a seller of green sauce, and his wife beats him). The beatings of the scavengers in the house of Mr. Boche: the scavengers make up a carnival couple - a thin little one and a long thin one. They are beaten, but they are allegedly beaten at a wedding à cheerful character. The third one is also decorated with ribbons, like at a carnival. Litigation Island: Residents make money by allowing themselves to be beaten for money. Brother Jean beats one red-faced (clown face) quarrel, gives him money, and he jumps up happy, “as if he were a king or even two kings.” Those. the old king killed and the new one revived.
An episode with the defense of the monastery garden: the soldiers are killed, but they are cut with knives, which are used to peel nuts, i.e. they are not soldiers, but puppets.
These episodes are unmeasured, I will tell you about one more. Panurge wants to marry, but is afraid that his wife will cuckold him and beat him, i.e. he is afraid to repeat the fate of the old king and the old year. Woman from the bunk. t.z. - the womb, hostile to everything old. Panurge is afraid of the movement of life.
The underworld is also life inside out.
Grotesque body. It is never finished, it is always creating itself and other bodies. It is not closed in space. Therefore, the main parts of the grotesque body: nose, mouth, buttocks, stomach and phallus (in short, all the bulges or hollows. And a new life is born in the stomach). Through these organs, the body makes contact with the outside world. And the heroes eat there all the time, too, because through the feast the whole world is connected with the world.
Chronotop. Correspondence of quality and space and time: there should be a lot of good, so the characters are big and live long. The good is endowed with the power for spatio-temporal expansion. And all bad things must die. Now I’ll write a phrase, whoever understands it, let them explain it to me (and Vannikova will say. What if it’s important?): This is a deliberate opposition to the disproportion of the feudal-church worldview, where values are hostile to spatio-temporal reality as vain, sinful, where the big is symbolized by the small, the strong - weak, eternal - instantly.
PRAISE OF STUPIDITY
'PRAISE OF STUPIDITY'
(or ‘Eulogy of Stupidity’; ‘Moriae Encomium, sive Stultitiae Laus’) is one of the central works of Erasmus of Rotterdam. It was written in 1509 and published in 1511. In total, about 40 lifetime editions of this satire were released. ‘P.G.’ owes much of its existence to Erasmus’ long journey through Europe. The idea of writing such a work matured on his way to England, and upon arrival to his beloved friend, More, Erasmus brought his plan to life in almost a few days. Satire is written in the genre of ironic panegyric, which was due to a combination of two trends characteristic of the Renaissance: an appeal to ancient authors (therefore panegyric) and the spirit of criticism of the social way of life (therefore ironic). It should be noted that Erasmus used the image of stupidity, which was quite widespread in the era of the late Middle Ages. It suffices to recall the ‘feasts of fools’ that took place, carnival processions with a masquerade, which served as a détente for social and psychological tension. At the end of the 15th century Sebastian Brandt’s satire “Ship of Fools” appears, in which human stupidity is classified, a well-known folk tale is published about Til Ulenspiegel, a little fool who made everyone around him laugh with his absurdly stupid behavior. However, on the other hand, Erasmus acted as an innovator in this regard, since he not only described stupidity as a human quality, but personified this property of human nature, putting into it a meaning different from the usual one. Compositionally, ‘P.G.’ consists of several parts: in the first part, Stupidity represents itself, asserting an inalienable involvement in human nature. In the second part, all kinds of forms and types of Stupidity are described, and in the last part, it is said about bliss, which is also in a sense stupidity. In the first part, Erasmus, with the words of Stupidity, proves the power of the latter over all life: “But not only that,” says Stupidity, “that you have found in me a hotbed and source of all life: everything that is pleasant in life is also my gift ... Search all heaven, and let my name be covered with shame, if you find at least one decent and pleasant God who would do without my assistance? , strictly judging everyone and everything, Stupidity looks very attractive. This ‘bookworm’, a rigorist and ascetic, an opponent of everything alive and living, is the antipode of Stupidity, and in reality it turns out that the real stupidity is rather himself. According to Erasmus, ‘nature chuckles down at all their / scholastics - A.B. / conjectures, and there is nothing reliable in their science. The best proof of this is their endless disputes with each other. Knowing nothing in reality, they imagine that they have known everything and everything, and meanwhile they are not even able to know themselves, and often due to short-sightedness or absent-mindedness do not notice the pits and stones under their feet. This, however, does not prevent them from declaring that they, they say, contemplate ideas, universals, forms separated from things, the primary continent), essences, singularities, and similar objects, to such an extent subtle that Linkei himself, I believe, couldn't see them. Here Erasmus promotes the idea that the human mind is not the whole person. If reason opposes itself to life (as happens in the case of scholastic theorizing), then it is the destroyer of life, which is based on the human desire for happiness and joy. Erasmus uses a sophistical technique, replacing the described object with its opposite. If happiness is not reason in the understanding of the scholastics, then happiness is stupidity. Erasmus' Morya, opposing medieval pseudo-rationalism, is nothing more than a new principle of life put forward by humanism: a person with his experiences, feelings, passions - this is a topic worthy of consideration. ‘I bestow my gifts on all mortals without exception,’ says Morya. All people have the right to life and all are equal in this right. Having laid the theoretical foundation for his reasoning, in the second part Erasmus moves on to more specific questions: the ‘different types and forms’ of stupidity. In this part Stupidity, conditional Stupidity, begins to resent real stupidity. Here the author imperceptibly moves from a panegyric of life to a satire on the ignorance and rigidity of society. Erasmus resorts to everyday sketches. It concerns the life of all social strata, leaving neither simple, nor noble, nor educated, nor unlearned people without attention. Erasmus pays special attention to philosophers and theologians, monks, priests and cardinals. Having sharply ridiculed their vices, Erasmus moves on to the final part of his ‘eulogy’ and draws a rather bold conclusion in it. Stupidity, having proved its power over all mankind, identifies itself with true Christianity itself, not with the Church. According to Stupidity, ‘the reward promised to the righteous is nothing but a kind of insanity’. As Erasmus writes in P.G., “Therefore, among fools of all kinds, those who are inspired by Christian piety seem to be the most insane. They squander their possessions, pay no attention to insults, allow themselves to be deceived, do not know the difference between friends and enemies (...). What is this, if not insanity? And the culmination of the climax of ‘foolishness’ is heavenly happiness, which, although it belongs to another, heavenly life, but which already here on earth can be tasted, at least for a short moment and only by a few. And now, waking up, they say that they themselves did not know where they were. One thing they know for sure: unconscious and mad, they were happy. Therefore, they mourn that they have come to their senses again, and desire nothing else but to suffer this kind of madness forever. Stupidity, unconsciousness, madness (as an antipode to scholastic rationalism) - this is true bliss, the real meaning of life. In ‘P.G.’, as in no other work of Erasmus of Rotterdam, his humanistic views were expressed. Sharp criticism of the contemporary social order and dominant worldviews and the way out of the current situation he proposes - rethinking life values and priorities at the individual level without abandoning religion - are typical of humanism. This work showed that Erasmus left the camp of Catholics, but did not join the camp of the reformers, because he did not consider it necessary to fundamentally reform the Roman Catholic Church in matters of dogma, believing that changes in the church should come from above. Such moderate radicalism of Erasmus led to the fact that ‘P.G.’ in the 1520s and 1530s loses its original popularity.
History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia. - Minsk: Book House. A. A. Gritsanov, T. G. Rumyantseva, M. A. Mozheiko. 2002 .
See what "PRAISE OF STUPIDITY" is in other dictionaries:
- “Praise of Stupidity” (or Praise of Stupidity, lat. ... Wikipedia
"PRAISE OF STUPIDITY"- a satirical work by Erasmus (1511). Allegory of Stupidity the character, depicting a woman with bells in her ears, takes the floor: Reason (her adversary), she says, should not be "so self-confident", because reasonableness first leads to a state of ... ... Philosophical Dictionary
Moriae Encomium, sive Stultitiae Laus) is one of the central works of Erasmus of Rotterdam. It was written in 1509 and published in 1511. In total, about 40 lifetime editions of this satire were released. P.G. owes much of its existence to... History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia
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Hans Holbein the Younger, portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1523 Erasmus of Rotterdam (Desiderius) (lat. Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, Dutch Gerrit Gerritszoon; October 27, 1466?, Rotterdam July 12, 1536, Basel) one of the most prominent humanists ... Wikipedia
One of the most prominent humanists, who, together with Reuchlin, was called by his contemporaries the two eyes of Germany. He was born, according to the inscription on the monument erected to him in Rotterdam, on October 28, 1467 (this date is disputed by some ... ...
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- (Erasmus Roterodamus), Desiderius, pseudonym of Gerhard Gerhards (1469 1536) learned humanist, theologian and writer. He did a great educational work on the publication of the works of Greek Lat. classics and fathers of the Christian Church. Your concept... Philosophical Encyclopedia
The path from midday Ausonia to foggy Albion through the cities and villages of medieval Europe is long. Slowly, with a creak, the wooden wheels roll. The horses wander dejectedly, as if lulled to sleep by the rhythm of their own steps, until the whip and the loud whistle of the driver make them start up for a moment, go into a trot, only to fall back into a lazy and drowsy amble.
Lombardy. Shplyugensky pass behind. The Rhine valley stretches freely. The singing dialect of the Italians was replaced by the heavy speech of the Germans. And the way is still far. What thoughts will not visit the forcedly idle mind of the rider in the boredom of the road. And the rider who decided in 1509 to cross continental Europe in order to appear before the eyes of the new king of England, who had just ascended the throne under the name of Henry VIII, was none other than Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam himself, a most learned man, an associate and head of the European humanists of the first half XVI century.
Why did he leave the quiet libraries of Italy, where he devotedly studied ancient manuscripts, erasing the dust of centuries from Latin and Greek letters? Why did he leave the hospitable home of the Venetian publisher Alda Manutius? Why didn't he accept the seductive invitations of Cardinal Giovanni Medici, the future Pope Leo X, who tempted him with an ecclesiastical career and a red cardinal cap? — He was called to England by his friends, and among them was Thomas More, dear to his heart. “The sky laughs, the earth rejoices,” wrote Erasmus from England, glorifying the new sovereign and promising fabulous benefits for the humanists.
Years will pass, and the head of Erasmus' friend, Thomas More, the author of the famous "Utopia", by order of this sovereign, will lie on the chopping block under the executioner's axe. But then who could have expected this? To the question of whether he, the king, would “love scientists and patronize them,” Henry VIII answered without hesitation: “How could it be otherwise? What would I be without them?" And the humanists, as learned as they are naive in worldly affairs, rejoiced, for "never before has any monarch spoken such beautiful words" (from a letter to Erasmus William Montjoy).
And now, full of hopes and hopes for the future, Erasmus of Rotterdam was traveling to England, mentally already anticipating the sweet nectar of the most learned conversations with his English friends.
While the journey lasted, driving away the road boredom and occupying the labor-demanding mind, Erasmus wrote an amazing, strange and paradoxical work. It was unlike anything he had created before.
A thoughtful and serious erudite, not free, perhaps, from the ponderous pedantry inherent in medieval scribes, he turned to a joke, to a free and playful game of the mind. And - a miracle! - everything faded and faded before this unpretentious game. The work of his whole life is a collection of parables and maxims of antiquity numbering more than four thousand, scientific reasoning in verse and prose, edifying dialogues (“Home conversations”), translations (of the Bible from Greek into Latin, writings of the “fathers of the church”) and letters (more than two thousand) - everything gave way to the glory of a small book that appeared originally in Latin, soon translated into the languages of Europe, enthusiastically accepted by contemporaries and now the most read in the world, a book with a cheerful and strange title - "Praise of Stupidity".
Erasmus of Rotterdam expressed himself in it. This is his confession, his credo, his trial of history and people, his philosophy of life. It contains his ideals, his longed-for dreams, his hatred and contempt. And all this in a playful allegory, and everything is wise and ingenious, for Erasmus himself was wise and ingenious.
Hans Holbein the Younger, a renowned painter, left us his portrait. Now this portrait adorns the walls of the Louvre in Paris. Concentrated, calm, internally peaceful face. Pencil in hand. Eyes fixed on paper. Erasmus writes. The artist recreated the main thing. Before us is a scientist. Erasmus was the most educated man of his time. Excellent knowledge of ancient languages allowed him to give a scientific translation of biblical texts, scientific comments on them, for the first time to look at the "sacred writings" through the eyes of a sober historian, free from mysticism and religious fanaticism.
Erasmus' judgment on mankind is severe. The world in which he lived was also harsh. In fertile Italy, where the sky is so clear and the sea is so kind to a person, satanic creatures lived, acted, decided the fate of people like Cardinal Caesar Borgia, involved, it seems, in all vices and all types of crimes, or his sister - the ruler of Ferrara, beauty and poisoner Lucrezia Borgia, or, finally, Pope Julius II, who, with a sword in his hand, triumphant and spattered with blood, entered the conquered cities.
Devastating, predatory wars tormented first one part of Europe, then another. Religious strife, masking political interests, stirred up peoples and gave rise to civil wars. The people are mired in poverty, lack of rights, ignorance. Epidemics decimated people. Holbein the Younger, the first illustrator of the book of Erasmus, created the nightmarish faces of the "Dance of Death". The Middle Ages appears before us in his paintings in all the poverty of the flesh and spirit.
However, Erasmus' satire is not so bleak. Erasmus of Rotterdam laughed, and where there is laughter, there is no place for despair and bitterness.
Praise stupidity! How could there be a desire to praise stupidity? Stupidity has always been the subject of ridicule. The ancient Greeks had their own "city of Fools" - Abdera, the birthplace of Democritus. The Germans created a whole literature of fools (Narrenliteratur). Shortly before Erasmus, Sebastian Brandt wrote the satire The Ship of Fools.
In Rus', Ivanushka the Fool has become a favorite hero of fairy tales. Deprived of the hard-thinking practicality of his older brothers, he is cheerful, unpretentious and careless. And in the end, for his simplicity and gentleness, he was awarded happiness and kingdom.
Reveal the grandiose epic of Balzac, his multi-volume "Human Comedy", is it not this very thought of Erasmus that he showed us in living faces and facts of human existence? Erasmus' thought is as broad as the world, as life itself. Sometimes in his casually thrown remark you recognize the ideas and images that shock us, revealed after him, brought, so to speak, to the highest standard, to the climax by other brilliant minds.
Stupidity in Erasmus' satire is not only an object of ridicule. Sometimes, like the hero of Russian fairy tales, she suddenly appears before us in a completely different guise, and we do not know whether the author is laughing or looking kindly and favorably at her heroine.
What's this? The irony of a man who devoted his whole life to science, or the anticipation of those formidable attacks on civilization that Jean-Jacques Rousseau would launch in the 18th century, the anticipation of that passionate sermon of the sage of Geneva, which would poetically echo in the works of Russian writers (Gypsies by Pushkin and almost in each line of Leo Tolstoy).
There is a lot of meaning, deep, philosophical, vital meaning in the attacks of the heroine of Erasmus' satire on the so-called "perfect sage" - the prototype of our ideal heroes. Erasmus mocks the folly of the Stoics, who invented a truly incorporeal model of human virtue, non-existent perfections of the individual, some ideal qualities that could only be matched by the gods, in a word, who created in their imagination a "marble likeness of a man." This is said by the heroine of the satire Erasmus Stupidity. But is it not her, in this case by no means stupid lips, that Erasmus himself speaks here?
He laughs, dissembles, makes fun of us. Sometimes, in the reasoning of his heroine, we suddenly recognize the features of those people with whom Montaigne, the skeptic philosopher, will speak in France in the second half of the 16th century. Are not the same thoughts expressed by Shakespeare's Hamlet! In a word, reading the satire of Erasmus, we are constantly on the crest of great universal ideas, great questions that tormented human thought both before Erasmus and after him. And who will say that all of them have already been resolved?
Travel was slow in medieval Europe. The journey from Italy to England was long, and while it lasted, the thoughtful Erasmus, “looking at the daily life of mortals”, created his extraordinary, paradoxical and wise book. He finished it already in England, in the country house of Thomas More, from there her glorious path to eternity began.
After 25 years, Erasmus' friend Thomas More will be executed. He will be beheaded by order of King Henry VIII, whose accession to the throne they both rejoiced so much. “I felt as if I had died along with More,” said Erasmus, and soon, on July 12, 1536, he died in Basel.
The literary heritage of the writer is huge. In addition to theological writings, he left many Latin verses. This was a prestigious occupation among the learned fraternity in his day. His satirical dialogues "Conversations easily" are curious. Here the writings of Lucian served as an example for him. Martin Luther spoke sharply and hostilely about them. Meanwhile, in the book there are many, far from theological disputes, sweet and harmless scenes.