What if the fool in the pulpit sees more clearly than the scholars, priests and kings she mocks?

In Desiderius Erasmus’s short satire In Praise of Folly, a goddess steps before a crowd to celebrate herself. Folly is boastful, funny and sharp. People may curse her, she says, but their faces brighten when she appears. Her claim is bold: without her, human life would hardly be worth living.

Her speech moves from the foolishness of childhood to the self-love and flattery that hold society together. Then her gaze sharpens. Scholars quarrel over tiny points of Latin. Monks prize rules and robes while forgetting charity. Through Folly’s praise of herself, Erasmus invites you to question what passes for wisdom.

この本で学べること

• A speaker without shame Meet a goddess who praises herself because she trusts nobody else to do it properly.
• The uses of self-love Follow Folly’s argument that liking ourselves helps us please others and act well.
• Learning under a sharp gaze Watch proud grammarians turn small disputes over Latin into reasons to feel like kings.
• Pride beneath the robes Encounter a pointed critique of religious rules and ritual that leave charity behind.
• Laughter with a serious edge Look beneath the jokes to explore human vanity and the uneasy boundary between wisdom and foolishness.

どのような方におすすめですか？

風刺や鋭いユーモア、機知に富んだ語りが好きな方に向いています。ルネサンスや昔の教会、冗談が深刻な主張をどう伝えるかに関心がある方にもおすすめです。