Erasmus Against War

Erasmus, Desiderius, 1469-1536Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 125K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Erasmus Against War by Desiderius ErasmusAuthor: Erasmus, Desiderius, 1469-1536,Language: English, Class: JX: Political science: International law, Release Date: Apr 20, 2012

Editor's review

This is a short yet weighty anti-war text by Erasmus, written against the backdrop of the pacifist currents that gathered force around the First World War. From a humanist standpoint grounded in Christian doctrine and human reason, the author asks why war is so hard to eradicate and dismantles, layer by layer, the supposed justifications for it. Its value lies not in offering concrete historical solutions but in modelling a calm, restrained and morally engaged mode of argument: first acknowledging human weakness, then arguing for the possibility of peace. The prose has the rhythm of classical rhetoric and the argument is clear, making it a suitable introduction to Erasmus's thought and to the modern pacifist tradition. As this is an English public-domain reprint, readers should treat it as a long essay worth rereading rather than a systematic treatise, and need not worry about lacking background knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in European humanist thought and the anti-war tradition
Students of intellectual history or political science who need English primary texts
Readers who want to practise reading English argumentative prose with a short text
Readers concerned with peace issues who hope to find argumentative resources in the classics

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic history of war or a work of military analysis
Beginners who need detailed notes and a scholarly introduction
Readers who prefer contemporary issues and have little patience for classical rhetoric

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the overall argument, then go back over each section to distinguish factual statements from value judgements.
Keep a sheet of paper on which to record the author's reasons against war, and compare them with present-day peace discourse.
If the English is difficult, read alongside a Chinese excerpt in translation, focusing on understanding key sentences rather than translating word by word.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book an English original or a translation?

This is an English version of Erasmus's anti-war text, released as an ebook by Project Gutenberg. The language is English, and it is a public-domain reprint, not a newly translated and annotated scholarly edition.

Can I understand it without a background in classics?

Yes. The text is mainly argumentative and not densely allusive; its core argument concerns human nature and the Christian view of peace. You can skip over names and places for the time being without losing the main point.

How does it relate to In Praise of Folly?

Both belong to Erasmus's humanist writing, but this book focuses on war and peace and argues more directly. In Praise of Folly excels at satire, whereas this book is mainly exhortation and reasoning.

Is it suitable as course reading?

It is suitable as short supplementary material for a course on intellectual history or English argumentative writing, but the instructor will need to supply historical background and notes; the book alone cannot support a full course.

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About the author

Erasmus, Desiderius, 1469-1536 Author

Erasmus, Desiderius (1469-1536) was a major Renaissance humanist known for his Latin writings. The collection holds 17 of his works, including In Praise of Folly (appearing under various titles such as De Lof der Zotheid), The Colloquies of Erasmus, and Selections from Erasmus: Principally from his Epistles. His writings often employ satire, using the persona of Folly to critique the abuses of the church and society, while his colloquies use dialogue to explore ethics, education, and social manners in a witty and argumentative style. These themes and techniques gave his works lasting influence in the spread of humanism. Public information on his life, nationality, and specific experiences is limited, so no speculation is offered here.