Items related to Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism

Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism - Hardcover

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9780791458396: Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism

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Synopsis

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.

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About the Author

John Marmysz teaches Philosophy at the College of Marin.

From the Back Cover

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.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780791458402: Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0791458407 ISBN 13:  9780791458402
Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2003
Softcover