 |
GetTextbooks.co.uk
Compare Prices & Save up to 90% |
|
|
|
| Login | Sign up | My Wish List |
 | | Comic Relief: Nietzsche's Gay Science by Kathleen Marie Higgins ISBN-10: 9780195126914 ISBN-10: 0-19-512691-2 ISBN-13: 9780195126914 ISBN-13: 978-0-19-512691-4 Hardcover 2000-01-13 Oxford University Press, USA Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description This book offers a lively and unorthodox analysis of Nietzsche by examining a neglected aspect of his scholarly personality--his sense of humor. While often thought of as ponderous and melancholy, the Nietzsche of Higgins's study is a surprisingly subtle and light-hearted writer. She presents a close reading of The Gay Science to show how the numerous literary risks that Nietzsche takes reveal humor to be central to his project. Higgins argues that his use of humor is intended to dislodge readers from their usual, somber detachment and to incite imaginative thinking. | ||
Reviews | ||
Forced Boredom This book is not funny. Higgins is not funny. Nietzsche's Joyful Wisdom is not funny. This book, as discussed in the preface, was contracted by a silly university press -- one of the silliest of them all. Then Higgins sat down to force the thing into shape. Every page has the feeling of being forced. There is nothing here that is smooth, natural or even very insightful. Higgins is constantly saying 'I think that is funny' as though her opinion could be worth anything at all. She has to think that in order to fulfill her contract. And who cares about her mental state anyway? The only proof that something is funny is that people find it funny, perhaps. But Higgins is an interested party, so her opinion is irrelevant. In fact, her opinion is worthless here, and so is her book. | ||
A Truly Happy Science! Nietzsche is a "Paradigm of Playfulness" in my opinion, and Professor Higgins has done an excellent job of teasing out the entrenched humor of his Gay Science. Also, the importance of humor in philosophizing not only in Nietzsche's work but in general should be taken into consideration by those who kick their heels up on the playground of ideas. In this unprecedented work Higgins shows us the multi-faceted nature of Nietzsche's way of doing philosophy, and with this approach a new appreciation for Nietzsche's depth as a philosopher should be noted. | ||