{"id":131902,"date":"2021-10-28T12:47:47","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T10:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=131902"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:56","slug":"what-we-can-learn-from-erasmus-the-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/10\/28\/what-we-can-learn-from-erasmus-the-entrepreneur\/","title":{"rendered":"What we can learn from Erasmus the entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"

It might seem like a poor joke Erasmus was playing when, in 1514, he showed up at his new publisher in Basel pretending to be Erasmus\u2019s representative. It was a joke, but at the same time, Erasmus was trying to get a message across: in addition to the \u2018entrepreneur\u2019 reporting to his publisher, there was a separate \u2018Erasmus the scholar\u2019, as well.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

These two capacities were represented by the same person, but were not the same person. In his capacity as an entrepreneur, Erasmus was more than willing to make concessions; at the very least, the act he performed when he arrived at his publisher\u2019s door resulted in the new publisher paying his bills at his inn. However, Erasmus the scholar was not willing to grant his publisher any concessions. He had rather different values, which were non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

In response to the results of a nation-wide survey on fraud in scientific research, EM<\/em> reported in July that half of all academic researchers in the Netherlands are guilty of questionable research practices. Many academics feel forced to adjust or make up study data, mostly because of the pressure exerted on them: the requirements imposed by universities so that they can receive more funding, the obligation to publish articles regularly and the wish to try and keep lucrative clients happy. You\u2019d expect academics\u2019 independence to be guaranteed five centuries after Erasmus, but unfortunately, that doesn\u2019t appear to be the case, even though this autonomy is the most important value for us academics.<\/p>\n

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