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List of contents
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
About the author
Paul E. Kirkland is associate professor of political science at Carthage College, USA.Michael J. McNeal is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy and International Relations at the University of Denver, USA.
Summary
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.
Foreword
First volume on the role of cheerfulness, joy, and laughter in shaping an alternative political philosophy in Nietzsche’s thought.
Additional text
This fine collection explores Nietzsche’s idea of life affirmation, not in abstract terms, but with concrete dispositions of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness, which are also applied to political life broadly construed. Pursuit of this under-examined element of Nietzsche’s philosophy is a significant contribution to the literature. Highly recommended.
