IN PRAISE OF FOLLY by ERASMUS [The Complete, Unabridged, Authoritative Translation] The Most Influential Humanist Book of All Time IN PRAISE OF FOLLY by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (Featured in The Greatest Works of Western Philosophy)

by Desiderius Erasmus, In Praise of Folly by Erasmus, Classics of Philosophy (Compiler), Greatest Works of Western Philosophy (Compiler), NOOKbook In Praise of Folly (Created by)

Overview

IN PRAISE OF FOLLY by ERASMUS [The Complete, Unabridged, Authoritative Translation] The Most Influential Humanist Book of All Time | IN PRAISE OF FOLLY by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (Featured in The Greatest Works of Western Philosophy)

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Erasmus's best-known work, The Praise of Folly was written in 1509 and published in 1511. Dedicated to Erasmus' friend, Sir Thomas More, and inspired by De triumpho stultitiae, written by Italian humanist Faustino Perisauli born at Tredozio, near Forlì, In Praise of Folly is a satirical attack on the traditions of the European society, of the Catholic Church and popular superstitions.

It starts off with a satirical learned encomium after the manner of the Greek satirist Lucian, whose work Erasmus and Sir Thomas More had recently translated into Latin, a piece of virtuoso foolery; it then takes a darker tone in a series of orations, as Folly praises self-deception and madness and moves to a satirical examination of pious but superstitious abuses of Catholic doctrine and corrupt practices in parts of the Roman Catholic Church—to which Erasmus was ever faithful—and the folly of pedants (including Erasmus himself). Erasmus had recently returned disappointed from Rome, where he had turned down offers of advancement in the curia, and Folly increasingly takes on Erasmus' own chastising voice. The essay ends with a straightforward statement of Christian ideals.

Erasmus revised and extended the work, which he originally wrote in the space of a week while sojourning with Sir Thomas More at More's estate in Bucklersbury. Today,
In Praise of Folly is considered one of the most notable works of the Renaissance and one of the catalysts of the Protestant Reformation.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940014701358
Publisher:	Consolation of Philosophy Press Epicurus
Publication date:	05/24/2012
Series:	Erasmus In Praise of Folly The Classics of Western Philosophy Christian Philosophy of Religion
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	85 KB

About the Author

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

Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a pure Latin style. He was an early proponent of religious toleration, and enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists"; he 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. These raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote 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 through the Reformation period, but while he was critical of the Church, he did not join the cause of the Reformers. In relation to clerical abuses in the Church, Erasmus remained committed to reforming the Church from within. He also held to Catholic doctrines such as that 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's reputation and the interpretations of his work have varied over time. Following his death, there was a long period of time when his countrymen mourned his death. Moderate Catholics felt that he had been a leading figure in attempts to reform the Church, while Protestants recognized his initial support for Luther's ideas and the groundwork he laid for the future Reformation.

By the coming of the Age of Enlightenment, however, Erasmus increasingly returned to become a more widely respected cultural symbol and was hailed as an important figure by increasingly broad groups. In a letter to a friend, Erasmus once had written: "That you are patriotic will be praised by many and easily forgiven by everyone; but in my opinion it is wiser to treat men and things as though we held this world the common fatherland of all."

Several schools, faculties and universities in the Netherlands and Flanders are named after him, as is Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn, New York, USA. The European Union's Erasmus scholarships enable students to spend up to a year of their university courses in a university in another European country.