
In "Praise of Folly" by Erasmus, the Goddess of Folly delivers a speech asserting the importance of folly in human affairs through satire. The book criticizes teachings of the Church, monastic life, and societal norms as folly, while also touching on religious practices, human nature, and the pursuit of wisdom. Erasmus employs humor, sarcasm, and wit to make jests at extremes of religious beliefs and practices, presenting a critique of society and human behavior.
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From The Publisher:
Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466-1536) is one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance humanist movement, which abandoned medieval pieties in favour of a rich new vision of the individual's potential. Praise of Folly, written to amuse his friend Sir Thomas More, is Erasmus's best-known work. Its dazzling mixture of fantasy and satire is narrated by a personification of Folly, dressed as a jester, who celebrates youth, pleasure, drunkenness and sexual desire, and goes on to lambast human pretensions, foibles and frailties, to mock theologians and monks and to praise the 'folly' of simple Christian piety. Erasmus's wit, wordplay and wisdom made the book an instant success, but it also attracted what may have been sales-boosting criticism. The Letter to Maarten van Dorp, which is a defence of his ideas and methods, is also included.
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About the Author:
Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536) was the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance, the first editor of the New Testament, and an important figure in classical literature. He helped lay the groundwork for the historical-critical study of the past, and his educational writings contributed to…
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