Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy 10 (1):117-139 (2005)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
This essay is devoted to an examination of the relationship between truth and laughter in the works of Nietzsche. My central text shall be the much malignedbook four of Zarathustra, with special attention paid to the braying of the ass. Laughter has been traditionally considered irrelevent to serious philosophical content and, at best, a stylistic quirk. I argue that this stems from a basic predjudice that is constitutive of a large part of the Western tradition, namely, the confusion of working hard (a sine qua non for philosophy) with taking oneself seriously. I then analyze laughter in Nietzsche’s works as the voice of truth itself. Laughter is the affirmation of a register of truth as the other beginning that has been lost in every thing that begins. Such an analysis involves a discussion of the nature of both truth and laughter. In so doing, I also distinguish Nietzschean laughter from three representative and seminal accounts of laughter provided by Hobbes, Bergson, and Kant
|
Keywords | Ancient Philosophy Continental Philosophy History of Philosophy |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 1085-1968 |
DOI | 10.5840/epoche20051019 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
No citations found.
Similar books and articles
Nietzsche's Nascent Laughter.Lorraine Markotic - 2010 - In Hans-Georg Moeller & Günter Wohlfart (eds.), Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies: Proceedings of the Académie du Midi. Verlag Karl Alber.
From Foolish Laughter to Foolish Laughter : Zhuangzi's Perspectivism Leads to Laughter.Paul D'Ambrosio - 2010 - In Hans-Georg Moeller & Günter Wohlfart (eds.), Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies: Proceedings of the Académie du Midi. Verlag Karl Alber.
Ethical Consensus and the Truth of Laughter: The Structure of Moral Transformations.Hub Zwart - 1996 - Kok Pharos Pub. House.
Belief and the Basis of Humor.Niall Shanks & Hugh LaFollette - 1993 - American Philosophical Quarterly 30 (4):329-39.
Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies: Proceedings of the Académie du Midi.Hans-Georg Moeller & Günter Wohlfart (eds.) - 2010 - Verlag Karl Alber.
Laughter as Truth Procedure : The Evolution of Comic Form in Newfoundland.Stephen Crocker - 2010 - In Hans-Georg Moeller & Günter Wohlfart (eds.), Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies: Proceedings of the Académie du Midi. Verlag Karl Alber.
Laughter, Freshness, and Titillation.Karl Pfeifer - 1997 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 40 (3):307 – 322.
Distorting the Rule of Seriousness: Laughter, Death, and Friendship in the Zhuangzi.Albert Galvany - 2009 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 8 (1):49-59.
The laughter of the Thracian handmaid. About the unworldliness of philosophy.Christina Schues - 2008 - Bochumer Philosophisches Jahrbuch Fur Antike Und Mittelalter 13 (1):15-31.
Laughter in Mohist Writings.Anna Ghiglione - 2010 - In Hans-Georg Moeller & Günter Wohlfart (eds.), Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies: Proceedings of the Académie du Midi. Verlag Karl Alber.
Transcendental Laughter Beyond Enlightenment.Günter Wohlfart - 2010 - In Hans-Georg Moeller & Günter Wohlfart (eds.), Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies: Proceedings of the Académie du Midi. Verlag Karl Alber.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2011-01-09
Total views
42 ( #240,150 of 2,410,099 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #541,624 of 2,410,099 )
2011-01-09
Total views
42 ( #240,150 of 2,410,099 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #541,624 of 2,410,099 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads