31 pages • 1 hour read
Praise Of Folly
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Declamation
Erasmus subtitles his book “A Declamation by Erasmus of Rotterdam” (9). A “declamation,” from Latin declamare, meaning to recite or give a public speech, is a formal oratorical speech or an exercise in oratory or elocution. In the world of Praise of Folly, Folly delivers this declamation; yet the subtitle might also be taken to mean that the thoughts expressed are fundamentally those of the author.
The word “declamation” suggests a speech rather than a philosophical treatise. As a term from classical literature, it signals Erasmus’ humanistic leanings. This declamation is about humor and folly, which subverts the usual serious connotations of the term.
Dialectic
The art or practice of logical argumentation, as used in classical philosophy and in scholastic theology.
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or a piece of writing in praise of a person or thing. The irony of Folly’s eulogy is her aim to offer praise to herself. This act of self-love is necessary, she says, because no one else ever thinks of praising her. Ironically, eulogies are usually associated with funerals, whereas this eulogy employs a comic and lighthearted tone in an address to a living being.
Encomium
The Latin word translated as “praise” is encomium. The word also exists in English and means “a formal expression of high praise.” Erasmus’s Latin title for the book, Moriae Encomium, can mean both “praise of folly” and “praise of More,” and the double meaning enables him to pay tribute to his friend Thomas More.
Philautia
Greek for self-flattery; literally, the word means “love of self” as well as the idea of having a high opinion of oneself and being blind to one’s own faults. Folly discusses the term as a necessary form of foolishness that enables human life and relationships to function smoothly.
Kolakia
A companion term to philautia, meaning flattery of others or fawning. Folly believes kolakia is necessary to life. While most people condemn fawning behaviors as insincere, she praises them as a form of loyalty and “ingenuous goodness of heart” (70).
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