Joy and Laughter in Nietzsche’s Philosophy: Alternative Liberatory Politics

ISBN-13: 9781350225237 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 240 str.

USA) Paul E. Kirkland (Carthage College; USA) Michael J. McNeal (University of Denver

Opis

Analyzing the importance of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness in Nietzsche’s thought, this volume addresses an under-examined topic in the secondary literature. By exploring disparate aspects of these interrelated emotions it provides new insights into his key ideas. The contributors—among them philosophers and political scientists—illustrate the significance of these feelings to reveal political ramifications of their affirmative potential and their broader role in Nietzsche’s philosophical aims. These include how the joyful disposition Nietzsche commends informs his free spirit's self-overcoming, attempts to revalue all values, and prospects of ultimately transfiguring humanity. Among other topics, scholars assess the Übermensch and shared joy, learning to laugh at oneself, Schopenhauer’s jokes, Pascal’s cheerfulness, and the Dada movement’s subversively playful aesthetic. By contemplating Nietzsche’s emphasis on joy and laughter, the volume reveals a thinker who, far from being a caricature of hopeless nihilism, is in fact the hitherto unrecognised champion of an alternative liberatory politics.

Spis treści

Introduction Paul E. Kirkland and Michael J. McNeal I. Joy and Knowledge 1. A gay science avant la lettre?: Knowledge and Joy in Human, All too Human Ruth Abbey 2. Aesthetics of Joy and Levity for Nietzsche’s Free Spirit Paul E. Kirkland II. Nietzsche’s Joyful Teachings 3. Nietzsche’s Übermensch: From Shared Suffering to Shared Joy Melanie Shepherd 4. “Is the Sea Not Full of Verdant Islands?”: Zarathustra on Passing by the Great City Peter S. Groff 5. Why “All Joy Wills Eternity” for Nietzsche Richard J. Elliott III. Predecessors and Heirs 6. What do I Matter?: Nietzsche on Pascal, Self-Obsession, and Good Cheer Jamie Parr 7. Schopenhauer’s Jokes and Nietzsche’s Riddles: Toward a Morphology of Laughter Glen Baier 8. Subversive Playfulness in Nietzsche and Dada Philip Mills IV. Perspectives on Laughter 9. On Nietzsche’s ‘Teachings’ about Learning to Laugh at Oneself – A Critical Approach Katia Hay 10. Nietzsche on Masculinity: The Joys of Danger and Play Jeffrey Church 11. The Free Spirits’ Dionysian Mirth: A Laughing Storm to Herald Philosophers of the Future Michael J. McNeal Bibliography Index