Praise Of Folly

Throughout the book, Erasmus playfully blurs the distinction between wisdom and folly. Folly delivers her message in support of herself, but she presents her opinions as more sensible than what society considers; thus, folly is in fact a higher wisdom. Meanwhile, behavior that society considers sensible is shown to be foolish. For example, those whom society considers wise, e.g., philosophers and rulers, are filled with delusions and behave terribly: “They know nothing at all, yet they claim to know everything” (85). The simple-minded and the ignorant, in contrast, possess a redemptive common sense. In this way, the book both exposes negative folly and extols positive folly.

Folly treats her audience as confidants, or “initiates of Folly” (134) who are sympathetic to her views. She flatters them while depicting individuals outside the assembly as the true fools. The ambiguity of wisdom when compared to foolishness is visible at one point, where Folly is unsure whether to call her audience “wise” or “foolish”:

What would this life be, or would it seem worth calling life at all, if its pleasure was taken away? I hear your applause, and in fact I’ve always felt sure that none of you was so wise or rather so foolish—no, I mean so wise—as to think it could (21).

Erasmus does not present a simple equation of folly with wisdom. There are certain types of folly that have the potential to contribute to happiness—like self-flattery and romantic love. But other types of folly are destructive, such as spurious theology and clerical entanglement with worldly affairs. Erasmus, through the voice of Folly, condemns these incidents, while condoning the lighter forms of folly. In the latter half of the book, some forms of folly are depicted in a bitterly negative light. An example involves Folly’s statement that “man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than truth” (71). When common folk nod off during sermons that expound “serious arguments” and wake up when the preacher “rant[s]…on some old wives’ tale” (71), Erasmus reveals his low opinion of common people as superstitious and uninterested in serious discussions; these demonstrations contrast with other sections in which Erasmus depicts the powerful and learned as foolish.

The reversal of standards culminates in the final section when Erasmus depicts folly in the specific context of the Christian religion. In Christianity, what the world considers wise is shown to be of no value, while what the world spurns as folly is shown to have the highest value. Self-sacrifice, exemplified by Christ’s death on the cross, seems to be an act of folly, but it actually brings about redemption and heavenly glory. Pleasure and wealth are of a distinctly lesser order. Christ exalts the simple and humble and condemns those who were superior in their wisdom. This true Christian ethic—which the churchmen depicted in the book ignore—is Erasmus’ ultimate standard and the one he wants his readers to take to heart. It represents the final and defining message of Praise of Folly.