The Legacy of Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Laughter: Bataille, Deleuze, and Rosset

Description

This book investigates the role of humor in the good life, specifically as discussed by three prominent French intellectuals who were influenced by Nietzsche's thought: Georges Bataille, Gilles Deleuze, and Clément Rosset. Lydia Amir begins by discussing Nietzsche’s reception in France, and she explains why and how he came to be considered a "philosopher of laughter" in the French academe. Each of the subsequent three chapters focuses on the significance of humor and laughter in the good life as advocated by Bataille, Deleuze, and Rosset. These chapters also explore the complex relationship between the comic and the tragic, and of humor and laughter to irony, satire, and ridicule. The Legacy of Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Laughter makes an invaluable contribution to recent interpretive work done on Bataille and Deleuze, and offers further introduction to the relatively understudied Rosset. It illuminates the philosophies of these three thinkers, their connection to Nietzsche, and, overall, the significant role that humor plays in philosophy. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction Prologue: The French Reception of Nietzsche as a Philosopher of Laughter 1 Interest in and Significance of the French Reception 2 Accounting for the French Reception 3 Nietzsche as a Philosopher of Laughter 1 Georges Bataille—The Laughter of Ecstasy I The Good Life II The Tragic and the Comic III Laughter IV Concluding Remarks 2 Gilles Deleuze—The Humor of Affirmation I The Good Life II The Tragic and the Comic III Humor IV Concluding Remarks 3 Clément Rosset—The Laughter of Annihilation I The Good Life II The Tragic and the Comic III Laughter IV Concluding Remarks Concluding Remarks: Additional Twentieth-Century French Views of Laughter I Concluding Previous Chapters II A dditional Twentieth-century French Views of Laughter III Conclusion Index