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Praise of Folly

erasmus

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A satire on the pretensions of Erasmus's contemporaries in the Church and philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1508

This edition

Format
128 pages, Paperback
Published
May 1, 2005 by Indypublish.Com
ISBN
9781421911755
ASIN
1421911752
Language
English

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About the author

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erasmus

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Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (28 October 1466 – 12 July 1536), known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.

Erasmus was a classical scholar and wrote in a pure Latin style. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists". Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will, The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.

Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation, but while he was critical of the abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon and continued to recognise the authority of the pope, emphasizing a middle way with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, rejecting Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to the Catholic doctrine of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both camps.

Erasmus died suddenly in Basel in 1536 while preparing to return to Brabant, and was buried in the Basel Minster, the former cathedral of the city. A bronze statue of him was erected in his city of birth in 1622, replacing an earlier work in stone.

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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
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99 reviews All reviews
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Zoro_8457
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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جنون اراسموس تردید کردن خود انسان است در انسان. ترید کردن خود عقل است در عقل و دیگر نه تردید خدا یا گناه یا شیطان. انسان که به سبب دیوانگی انتقادگر و طنزآمیز نسبی شده دیگر تابع تقدیر یا ایمان نیست، امّا دیگر خدای مطلق عقل هم نیست.
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pabloos
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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”But no one gives thanks for his recovery from folly. So sweet a thing it is not to be wise that, on the contrary, men rather pray against anything than folly.”

In Praise of Folly is a multi-layered satire in which Erasmus brilliantly showcased his wit, whimsy and erudition. His clever antics began with the title (Moriae Encomium, in its original Latin) which conveys a double meaning — In Praise of Folly and In Praise of More. He wrote the piece during a week spent in the home of his friend, Thomas More.

The work opens with the goddess Folly introducing herself with her impressive lineage, and continuing on to praise her works as the greatest boons to humanity, responsible for everything from simple pleasure to the fact that procreation happens. Through this devise, Erasmus tweaks and mocks superstitions and abuses of the Church, of the Scholastics, and particularly of the monks and hermits. But the scope of his satire extended to European society as a whole, encompassing everything from marriage and motherhood to gambling.

Though his satire is generally seen as a satirical thrashing (with a light and humorous switch) of abuses Erasmus perceived in his culture and Church, there are places in Folly’s recitation of her blessings where it almost seems that Erasmus intends her words to be taken seriously rather than as satire, and I found myself wondering if this wise and clever man was channeling the Preacher, from Ecclesiastes, where he said:

Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself over wise; why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
Ecclesiastes 7:16
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RewriteGonnaSuck
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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This was fun! The flaws of human character have apparently been the same for centuries and will mostly likely remain forever- but Erasmus shows them in such an inventive and light-hearted manner I felt it actually gave me a lot of comfort and perspective.
At the same time I liked the glimpses into specifics of the life in the 16th century - I especially enjoyed discovering all the phrases and proverbs Erasmus uses. I'll probably want to give his Adages a go one day :)

The text for me gets confusingly inconsistent, when Folly claims to be the source of two kinds of behaviour, which for Erasmus himself must have been completely contradictory (that you can feel from the way he describes them) - f.i. a saintly life vs the power hungry life of people who are actually in church offices.
Anyway I tried not to bother about that too much and just enjoy the read.
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Stippling
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Erasmus'un "ahmaklık"ın ağzından bizlere sunduğu tamamı hiciv olan eseri "Deliliğe Övgü / The Praise of Folly", ünlü yazarın Cicero'nun meşhur sözü "İnsanların çoğu ahmaktır"ı esas alarak tüm insanlığı zekice bir şekilde eleştirdiği gerçekten oldukça özgün bir eser. Özellikle son çeyreğinde başladığı İncil ve din eleştirisiyle zamanının çok ötesinde bir kitap olan "Deliliğe Övgü", kendine has diliyle alışması başta zor ama okudukça değer kazanan bir yapıt. Dini kullananları oldukça ağır bir şekilde eleştiren Erasmus'un tarihten ve İncil'den verdiği örnekler epey yerinde. Kısaca, "kutsal kitaplarda bile insanların ahmak olduğunun savunulduğu bu dünyada nasıl bilgeliğin güzel bir şey olduğunu savunursunuz" diyen Erasmus'un sanki bir tiyatro sahnesini andıran yergili diline hayran kalmamak elde değil. Okunması gereken felsefe eserlerinden biri olmakla beraber okumadan önce Antik Yunan (Platon, Aristoteles) ve Roma (Cicero, Marcus Aurelius) felsefesinin önemli örneklerini okumakta fayda var.

01.11.2016
İstanbul, Türkiye

Alp Turgut

http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
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todoke333
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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“I must learn to love the fool in me the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries”

This was said by Theodore Rubin, but it was first said in Praise of Folly. This wonderful book brings life and illumination to that above quote and helps you to appreciate it's fullest meaning. To anyone who would be better: read this book, it will show you how to love your fool.
The marvelous thing about this book is that it is still so fresh, it made me think, it made me change my mind and it made me laugh aloud. I can't offer better recommendation than that.
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Juarez
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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"Este o șansă incomparabilă în viața unui artist să poată găsi unei teme forma artistică în care să fie întrunite armonios toate aptitudinile cu care l-a înzestrat natura. Acest lucru i-a reușit lui Erasm în Elogiul nebuniei, grație unei strălucite idei ademenitoare și pe deplin realizate; în această lucrare se găsesc laolaltă, într-un consens fratern, învățatul enciclopedic, criticul sever al epocii sale și zeflemistul satiric; în nicio altă lucrare a sa nu poate fi cunoscută și recunoscută atât de bine măiestria lui Erasm ca în aceasta, cea mai celebră, unica, de altfel, care a rezistat timpului. Și când te gândești că această săgeată înfiptă în inima epocii a fost aruncată de o mână ușoară, aproape în joacă; acest Satiricon splendid a fost scris fluent. În nu mai mult de șapte zile și de fapt numai ca să-și ușureze sufletul." Triumful si destinul tragic al lui Erasm din Rotterdam (Stefan Zweig)
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Lesteros
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Muhteşem bir yapıt nasıl olduda bunca sene bu eseri gözden kaçırmışım bilmiyorum elimin altında bulunması gereken bir eser bir değil binlerce defa okumak isterim. yakın zamanda blogda yazacam detaylıca.
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Scizorfan1991
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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ديسيدروس إراسموس هو فيلسوف هولندي من رواد الحركة الإنسانية في أوروبا _عصر النهضة_، يقارن بأسلوب مرح _على لسان مفهوم الحماقة_ بين الحكمة والحماقة وأثر كل واحدة منهما على حياة الشخص سواء كان فقيرا أو غنيا، ملكا أو راهبا، رجلا أو امرأة، فيقول: "إنه لا يوجد شيء ليس له فائدة مثل الحكمة وإذا سُعي للربح فإن الجاهل ينال الرزق والحكيم لا يناله شيء لأنه لن يقبل بالربا ولا الغش ولا الكذب".
فيرى أن الحماقة مرتبطة بالسعادة أكثر من الحكمة لأن الأحمق يقول ما يريد وقت ما يريد ولا يجمل الكلمات أو الأحداث، وهو غالبا سعيد لا يقحم تفكيره بمعقدات الأمور مثل الحكيم المغتمّ دائم التفكير واجترار الهموم.
المتحدث هنا هي الحماقة، تارة تمدح نفسها وتارة تكيل للحمقى الشتائم، لكن ما فهمته بالنهاية أننا في أوقات نحتاج أن نكون حمقى كي نستطيع مسايرة الحياة وأحيانا لا بد أن نكتسي ثوب الحكمة "تحكيم العقل" حين يتطلب الموقف ذلك.
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