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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. The cultural motiff of the ship of fools- so richly elaborated in the literary and artistic compositions of the 15th and 16th centuries- is (in the ironies plyd at the hands of Erasmus and Brandt, for exemplary instance) a parody of the 'ark of salvation' (such as the 'protectorate' of the church was styled): in effect, it represents the 'false church' as the ark of damnation.

The allegorical mind of the 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 landascapes 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). It is instructive to point out here how Luther styled himself after the manner of Noah, building an ark (such as the reformed medieval church was characterized) to save a world submerged in madness. The Historical use to which Foucualt's text puts the theme has occasioned much academic debate (in this connection, the reader should refer to 'Re-writing the history of madness: studies in Foucault's Historie de la folie' edited by Arthur Still and Irving Velody), specifically, concerning the literary truth (historical reality) of the myth of the insane cargo-ships of which it speaks; concerning, that is to say, the distinction between imagination and reality with respects to the status of this cultural motiff.

As recently as the 1980s in Austin Texas, as documented by J.S. Bankston, due to overcrowding, the Austin Mental Hospital put people on Greyhound buses and shipped them to other cities (including San Antonio), leaving them in the streets to fend for themselves (i.e. on another town's budget).

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
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[1]

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
Ron Sexsmith
Soul Asylum
Tuxedomoon
Van der Graaf Generator
World Party
Yuki Kajiura (for the Tsubasa Chronicle Soundtrack)

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

In other contexts:

Ship of Fools, a popular UK-based Christian website
Ship of Fools, an apocryphal medieval European method of dealing with mental illness
The Ship of Fools, an improv comedy troupe made up of students from Purdue University
The Golgafrinchan B Ark in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Ship of fools.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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 '''The ship of fools''' is an old [[allegory]] that has long been used in Western culture in [[literature]] and [[painting]]s. 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. The cultural motiff of the ship of fools- so richly elaborated in the literary and artistic compositions of the 15th and 16th centuries- is (in the ironies plyd at the hands of Erasmus and Brandt, for exemplary instance) a parody of the 'ark of salvation' (such as the 'protectorate' of the church was styled): ''in effect'', it represents the 'false church' as the ''ark of damnation.''
-The allegorical mind of the [[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 landascapes 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). It is instructive to point out here how Luther styled himself after the manner of Noah, building an ark (such as the reformed medieval church was characterized) to save a world submerged in madness. The Historical use to which Foucualts text puts the theme has occasioned much academic debate (in this connection, the reader should refer to 'Re-writting the history of madness: studies in Foucault's ''Historie de la folie''' edited by Arthur Still and Irving Velody), specifically, concerning the ''literary truth'' (historical reality) of the myth of the insane cargo-ships of which it speaks; concerning, that is to say, the distinction between ''imagination'' and ''reality'' with respects to the status of this cultural motiff.
+The allegorical mind of the [[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 landascapes 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). It is instructive to point out here how Luther styled himself after the manner of Noah, building an ark (such as the reformed medieval church was characterized) to save a world submerged in madness. The Historical use to which Foucualt's text puts the theme has occasioned much academic debate (in this connection, the reader should refer to 'Re-writing the history of madness: studies in Foucault's ''Historie de la folie''' edited by Arthur Still and Irving Velody), specifically, concerning the ''literary truth'' (historical reality) of the myth of the insane cargo-ships of which it speaks; concerning, that is to say, the distinction between ''imagination'' and ''reality'' with respects to the status of this cultural motiff.
 As recently as the 1980s in Austin Texas, as documented by [http://www.jsbankston.com/site/archives/97 J.S. Bankston], due to overcrowding, the [[Austin Mental Hospital]] put people on Greyhound buses and shipped them to other cities (including San Antonio), leaving them in the streets to fend for themselves (i.e. on another town's budget).