The Joyous Science
(‘la gaya scienza’)
by Friedrich Nietzsche
“‘Joyous Science’: that implies the Saturnalia of a spirit which has patiently withstood a long, terrible pressure – patiently, strictly, coldly, without submitting, but without hope – and which is now suddenly overcome with hope, the hope of health, the giddiness of recovery.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, ‘The Joyous Science’
Nietzsche wrote The Joyous Science, which he later described as “perhaps my most personal book”, when he was at the height of his intellectual powers. It is a liberating voyage of discovery as his realisation that “God is dead” and his critique of morality, the arts and modernity, give way to an exhilarating doctrine of self-emancipation and the concept of eternal recurrence.
In this volume, the reader will find an extensive and sophisticated treatment of the philosophical themes and views which were most central to Nietzsche's own thought and which have been most influential on later thinkers. These include the death of God, the problem of nihilism, the role of truth, falsity and the will-to-truth in human life, the doctrine of the eternal recurrence, and the question of the proper attitude to adopt toward human suffering and toward human achievement.
Here is Nietzsche at his most personal and affirmative; in his words, this is a book of “exuberance, restlessness, contrariety and April showers”. With its unique voice and style, its playful combination of poetry and prose, and its invigorating quest for self-emancipation, The Joyous Science is a literary tour de force, and quite possibly Nietzsche’s best book.
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Table of Contents
Chronology
Introduction
Note on the Text and Translation
Further Reading
THE JOYOUS SCIENCE
Preface to the Second Edition
‘Jest, Trick and Revenge’: Prelude in German Rhymes
Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV: Sanctus Januarius
Book V: We Fearless Ones
Appendix: ‘Songs of the Outlaw Prince’
Excerpts from Idylls from Messina
Nietzsche’s Description of The Joyous Science in Ecce Homo
Notes
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Paperback Edition
368 pages. Printed card cover.
ISBN: 9780141195391
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“The Joyous Science is one of the most uplifting and edifying reads I have met with yet. So full of energy and life lies in Nietzsche’s prose that it gives a fresh vibrance and a fullness to his meanings.”
Michael Guirgies - read the full review here
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About the Author
The late Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. His attempts to unmask the motives that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and philosophy deeply affected generations of theologians, philosophers, psychologists, poets, novelists, and playwrights. He thought through the consequences of the triumph of the Enlightenment’s secularism—expressed in his observation that “God is dead”—in a way that determined the agenda for many of Europe’s most-celebrated intellectuals after his death. Although he was an ardent foe of nationalism, antisemitism, and power politics, his name was later invoked by fascists to advance the very things he loathed. For further information on the misappropriation of Nietzsche’s work, read here.
