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The Role Of Laughter In The Thought Of Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul D. Gerdes
The Role Of Laughter In The Thought Of Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul D. Gerdes
Institute for the Humanities Theses
The objective of this thesis is an analysis of the role of laughter in the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), by which I mean both its influence on his intellectual development, and the incorporation of it in his philosophy. Such an undertaking is important because, while it might seem somewhat odd for a philosopher, and particularly a German philosopher, to consider laughter fundamental to his thought, laughter does play an essential role in all of Nietzsche's writing.
For the purposes of this thesis, I will investigate three separate but interrelated aspects of Nietzsche's thought: the influence of the Dionysian tragic-comic …