Ship of Fools

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The ship of fools is an old allegory that has long been used in Western culture in literature and paintings. With a sense of self-criticism, it describes the world and its human inhabitants as a vessel whose deranged passengers neither know nor care where they are going. In literary and artistic compositions of the 15th and 16th centuries, the cultural motif of the ship of fools was a parody of the 'ark of salvation' (as the Catholic Church was styled).

Michel Foucault, who wrote Madness and Civilization, saw in the ship of fools a symbol of the consciousness of sin and evil alive in the medieval mindset and imaginative landscapes of the Renaissance (in the sense outlined above, and epitomized by Erasmus's Praise of Folly and Brandt's Narrenschiff, both of which can be seen as much men of the benighted age those guiding lights dawned upon as of the enlightenment itself).

Ship of Fools may also refer to:

In art:

• The Ship of Fools, a painting by Hieronymus Bosch
• Ship of Fools (Narrenschiff), a 1494 satire by Sebastian Brant
• Ship of Fools, a 1962 novel by Katherine Anne Porter
• Ship of Fools, a 1965 motion picture, based on the novel
• La nave de los locos, a 1984 novel, by Cristina Peri Rossi, Uruguayan writer
• Ship of Fools, Michael Bedard 1992
• The Ship of Fools is a work (1996) by French composer Thierry Lancino based on the texts by Sebatian Brant
• Ship of Fools, a 1997 Doctor Who spin-off novel by Dave Stone
• Ship of Fools, a 1999 short story by Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber
• Ship of Fools, a 2001 award-winning science fiction novel by Richard Paul Russo
• The Ship of Fools, a 2001 novel by Gregory Norminton
• The Ship of Fools, a print by Theresa Pateman, British artist
• Ship of Fools, prints and posters by [[István Orosz] Hungarian artist]
• "Ship of Fools", a media art group based in Bristol

In music: Ship of fools is frequently used in popular music. Acts who have recorded songs titled "Ship of Fools" include:

• Alphaville
• John Cale
• The Doors
• Dr. Strangely Strange
• The Grateful Dead
• Erasure
• Yngwie Malmsteen
• Robert Plant
• Scorpions
• Secret Chiefs 3
• Bob Seger
• Brand New
• Ron Sexsmith
• Soul Asylum
• Tuxedomoon
• Van der Graaf Generator
• World Party
• Sarah Brightman
• Yuki Kajiura (for the Tsubasa Chronicle Soundtrack)
• Joe Sample

It is also the title of an album by John Renbourn. A now-defunct Yorkshire band were actually named Ship of Fools.

The phrase also features in the 1986 hit single "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung as "A ship of fools sailing on..."

In other contexts:

• Ship of Fools, a popular UK-based Christian website
• The Golgafrinchan B Ark in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Last updated on Thursday January 31, 2008 at 06:02:33 PST (GMT -0800)
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