Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Praise of Folly
Folly's satirical declamation — Erasmus's 1511 brilliant critique of contemporary religious and intellectual hypocrisy, the major work of Renaissance Christian humanism
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Praise of Folly (Mid (Erasmus's most widely read book)) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Scripture |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Praise of Folly
The historical-religious time of the late-medieval European church needing reform.
Space
Praise of Folly
The social-religious space of European Christianity as the target of satire.
Matter
Praise of Folly
Embodied religious-social life as the substrate of satirical critique.
Observer
Praise of Folly
Folly as the satirical first-person speaker; Erasmus as the genuine satirist behind her. Personal-providential God as ultimate framework.
Energy
Praise of Folly
The satirical energies of critique; the deeper Christian energy of evangelical love.
Information
Praise of Folly
The accumulated religious-cultural patterns satirised; the evangelical-biblical core preserved through the satire.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Praise of Folly's relation to the Reformation was complicated — Luther and the reformers read Erasmus extensively, but Erasmus refused to join the Reformation. The 1524 controversy over free will marks the decisive break. The book has been continuously in print since 1511 and shaped subsequent satirical-religious literature.