Publication

The Praise of Folly (sometimes translated as "In Praise of More") is an essay written by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. Folly, the essay's central character, parades as one of the gods, nursed by Inebriation and Ignorance. Folly praises herself endlessly, arguing that life would be dull and distasteful without her. 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.