Joy and Laughter in Nietzsches Philosophy

Analyzing the importance of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness in Nietzsches 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 contributorsamong them philosophers and political scientistsillustrate the significance of these feelings to reveal political ramifications of their affirmative potential and their broader role in Nietzsches 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 bermensch and shared joy, learning to laugh at oneself, Schopenhauers jokes, Pascals cheerfulness, and the Dada movements subversively playful aesthetic. By contemplating Nietzsches 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.