A Play of Silly Guises: How Not to Study and Not to Describe Foolishness
Marcin T. ZDRENKA
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7415-8156
Abstract
The article is based on a short review of the most recent, primarily Polish, literature on foolishness. Although not comprehensive, the list of described studies makes it possible to identify four types of scholarly approach to foolishness, or four types of texts in which foolishness is discussed: (1) ‘encyclopedic’ works, (2) studies which only apparently address foolishness, (3) texts in which foolishness is used as a rhetorical weapon, and (4) works whose authors attempt to ‘domesticate’ foolishness. On the basis of his analysis, the author formulates four warnings which, while increasing our vigilance against foolishness, will not ultimately protect us against it.
Keywords:
foolishness, morosophy, encyclopedia, rhetoric, non-specific character of foolishness, warningZDRENKA, M. T. (2021). Gra niemądrych pozorów. Jak nie ujmować i opisywać głupoty. Ethos. Kwartalnik Instytutu Jana Pawła II KUL, 34(1), 105–129. https://doi.org/10.12887/34-2021-1-133-09
