He was in the vanguard ofmodern philology. As a biblical scholarhe supported the humanistic call Ad fontes, a return to thetexts in the original language and therefore promoted the study of thebiblical languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The thrust of Erasmus’ educational programmewas the promotion of docta pietas, learned piety, or what hetermed the “philosophy of Christ”. He embraced the humanistic beliefin an individual’s capacity for self-improvement and thefundamental role of education in raising human beings above the levelof brute animals. If a general label is needed,Erasmus’ thought is best described as “ChristianHumanism”, that is, a philosophy of life combining Christianthought with classical traditions. In modernparlance, he was an opinion maker. He often reflected onsubjects that invite philosophical inquiry: the influence of natureversus nurture, the relationship between word and thing, the idealform of government, the nature of faith, and the theory of knowledge.Erasmus’ views on these subjects are of interest to historianstoday, even if they are unstructured, because his works circulatedwidely and his influence in Northern Europe was pervasive. Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1467?–1536) was not asystematic philosopher although we discern in the large body of hiswritings a certain Erasmian habit of mind.
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