Erasmus’ In Praise of Folly is far and away the most enjoyable to read philosophical, or in this case predominantly anti-philosophical, essay that I’ve come across. Just as with history, I almost always like the idea of reading philosophy far more than actually reading philosophy, and don’t usually manage to read more than a few pages of texts like this at a time before I lose focus and my mind begins to wander, but with this I could quite easily see myself reading the whole thing in one go if I ever decide to re-read it. Of course the translation plays a huge part in how the text reads, but Erasmus speaking through the oration of the goddess Folly has such lightness of touch, bite of satire and ability to poke fun at not only the scholarship of society at large, but most importantly at himself, that there’s no way this can be read other than with pleasure.
Has got to be one of the funniest texts I’ve come across in a good while, which is even more surprising considering it comes from the early 16th century. Makes use of its humour and relentless satirisation of society and scholarship, both contemporary and ancient, to convey a great message to anyone who reads it, and one which as all the great serious philosophical arguments which are so often made fun of by Folly, holds true just as much today as when it was written.
However, I must admit that as much as the tone and conversation of Folly is so pleasurable to read, since I am not a Christian and have very little knowledge of the Bible and even less of the goings on and troubles of the Church during the early 1500s and the years before, and since so much of the second half of In Praise of Folly is so focused on the Church and all of its folly’s which I just don’t have the knowledge to understand all the things and people that are being referenced, those parts did slightly drag for me, although in the edition I read there were plenty of footnotes at the bottom of each page which was a big help. I’m sure this wouldn’t be a problem for someone with the prerequisite knowledge and is just as enjoyable as the rest, and probably the most educational.
There’s really not anything else I can think of that outwardly champions this kind of message, and as much as it is a satire and of course not absolutely in line with Erasmus’ own beliefs, its something that personally I very much agree with and have felt for a long time. While reading this I remembered this short interview from Federico Fellini which I came across a while back that conveys something similar, [Fellini Satyricon (1969) – “The Real Moral Message is Vitality” (Eng Sub) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-2MQez3C0). As much as I don’t have any clear philosophy about what makes a life good or worth living, for a long time now I’ve felt that this is what gives someone or a piece of art life in the first place, without it it might as well already be dead, and folly is absolutely an aspect of this ‘certain vitality’.
3.5/5
by marqueemoonchild
1 Comment
The parts that dragged might well owe something to the spirit of the Reformation wafting about in the air. A short interesting piece here: https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/luther-and-erasmus/#:~:text=But%20they%20had%20different%20points,will%20between%201524%20and%201526. Faith vs works: I know whose side I’d have been on. Besides, so far as we know Erasmus wasn’t an anal-retentive sort who found inspiration by sitting on a toilet.
Seriously though you have me thinking I’d at least like to take a look at the book. I’d heard of it, and I’ve read a book on manners by Erasmus but that was all I knew of him. What edition is it you read, please?
Thanks for the post.