Laughing at Nothing: Humor As a Response to Nihilism

by Marmysz, John

• ISBN13: 9780791458402
• ISBN10: 0791458407
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Explores the concept of nihilism and argues that it need not imply despair, but can be responded to positively. Disputing the common misconception that nihilism is wholly negative and necessarily damaging to the human spirit. John Marmysz offers a clear and complete definition to argue that it is compatible, and indeed preferably responded to, with an attitude of good humor. He carefully scrutinizes the phenomenon of nihilism as it appears in the works, lives, and actions of key figures in the history of philosophy, literature, politics, and theology, including Nietzsche, Heidegger, Camus, and Mishima. While suggesting that there ultimately is no solution to the problem of nihilism, Marmysz proposes a way of utilizing the anxiety and despair that is associated with the problem as a spur toward liveliness, activity, and the celebration of life.

Author Biography

John Marmysz teaches Philosophy at Corning Community College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: The Problem of Nihilism	p. 1
Scrutinizing Nihilism
German and Russian Nihilism	p. 15
German Nihilism	p. 15
Russian Nihilism	p. 17
Nietzschean Nihilism	p. 21
The Christian, the Anarchist, and Socrates	p. 22
Apollo and Dionysus	p. 24
Healthy Culture and the Well-Ordered Society	p. 27
Ascent, Decline, and the Eternal Return of the Same	p. 30
Heidegger and Nietzsche	p. 34
World-War and Postwar Nihilism	p. 43
The National Socialists	p. 44
Camus and the Existentialists	p. 46
Yukio Mishima and Asian Nihilism	p. 50
Nihilism in America	p. 55
Nihilistic Incongruity	p. 61
The Descriptive, Normative, and Fatalistic Premises of Nihilism	p. 68
The Historical Complication	p. 74
Pyrrho, Stirner, Rorty, and Skeptical Pragmatism	p. 78
Decline, Ascent, and Humor
Decline, Decay, and Falling Away	p. 91
Ambition, Aspiration, and Ascent	p. 105
Humor and Incongruity	p. 123
Jokes	p. 136
Comedy	p. 138
Humor	p. 141
Conclusion: Humor as a Response to Nihilism	p. 155
Postscript	p. 167
Notes	p. 173
Bibliography	p. 195
Index	p. 203
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