Laughing at Nothing

John Marmysz

Description

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.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Problem of Nihilism

PART I: Scrutinizing Nihilism

1. German and Russian Nihilism

German Nihilism
Russian Nihilism

2. Nietzschean Nihilism

The Christian, the Anarchist, and Socrates
Apollo and Dionysus
Healthy Culture and the Well-Ordered Society
Ascent, Decline, and the Eternal Return of the Same
Heidegger and Nietzsche

3. World-War and Postwar Nihilism

The National Socialists
Camus and the Existentialists
Yukio Mishima and Asian Nihilism
Nihilism in America

4. Nihilistic Incongruity

The Descriptive, Normative, and Fatalistic Premises of Nihilism
The Historical Complication
Pyrrho, Stirner, Rorty, and Skeptical Pragmatism

PART II: Decline, Ascent, and Humor

5. Decline, Decay, and Falling Away

6. Ambition, Aspiration, and Ascent

7. Humor and Incongruity

Jokes
Comedy
Humor

Conclusion: Humor as a Response to Nihilism

Postscript

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Philosophy of religion
• Philosophy

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791486283
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

L A U G H I N G AT N O T H I N G

This page intentionally left blank.

L A U G H I N G A T N O T H I N G

Humor as a Response to Nihilism

J O H N M A R M Y S Z

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Yo r k P r e s s

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Jennifer Giovani

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Marmysz, John, 1964– Laughing at nothing : humor as a response to nihilism / by John Marmysz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5839-3 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5840-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Nihilism (Philosophy) 2. Comic, The. I. Title. B828.3.M265 2003 149'.8—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2003042561

Contents

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS , vii

I NTRODUCTION THE PROBLEM OF NIHILISM, 1

PART I S C R U T I N I Z I N G N I H I L I S M

C HAPTER O NE GERMAN AND RUSSIAN NIHILISM, 15 German Nihilism,15 Russian Nihilism,17

C HAPTER T WO NIETZSCHEAN NIHILISM, 21 The Christian, the Anarchist, and Socrates,22 Apollo and Dionysus,24 Healthy Culture and the Well-Ordered Society,27 Ascent, Decline, and the Eternal Return of the Same,30 Heidegger and Nietzsche,34

C HAPTER T HREE WORLD-WAR AND POSTWAR NIHILISM, 43 The National Socialists,44 Camus and the Existentialists,46 Yukio Mishima and Asian Nihilism,50 Nihilism in America,55

vi

LAUGHING AT NOTHING

C HAPTER F OUR NIHILISTIC INCONGRUITY, 61 The Descriptive, Normative, and Fatalistic Premises of Nihilism,68 The Historical Complication,74 Pyrrho, Stirner, Rorty, and Skeptical Pragmatism,78

PART II D E C L I N E , A S C E N T, A N D H U M O R

C HAPTER F IVE DECLINE, DECAY, AND FALLING AWAY, 91

C HAPTER S IX AMBITION, ASPIRATION, AND ASCENT, 105

C HAPTER S EVEN HUMOR AND INCONGRUITY, 123 Jokes,136 Comedy,138 Humor,141

C ONCLUSION HUMOR AS A RESPONSE TO NIHILISM, 155

P OSTSCRIPT , 167

N OTES , 173

B IBLIOGRAPHY , 195

I NDEX , 203

Acknowledgments

This work began as a doctoral dissertation written under the guidance of Pro- fessors Pablo De Greiff, Carolyn Korsmeyer, Mariam Thalos, and Henry Sussman at the University at Buffalo. Their encouragement, thoughtful com- ments, and enthusiasm were indispensable in allowing this book to take its present form. I am indebted to Frances Marmysz and Juneko Robinson for their encouragement and companionship during the time that I was engaged in researching, writing, and polishing this work. They struggled along with me day after day and helped me get through some rough periods. Thanks to them I avoided becoming overwhelmed by nihilistic despair. I could not have done without their insights and willingness to listen. Kent Daniels and Juneko Robinson provided me with helpful comments and suggestions on various drafts and also took the time to explore and dis- cuss many of the themes and issues that are dealt with in this book. I thank both of them, as well as Dario Goykovich, for the opportunity they gave me to talk about nihilism and the nature of humor during long hikes through the hills and forests of northern California. There is much more to be said, and I hope that we can continue our hiking and philosophizing sometime in the near future. Portions of chapters 2, 6, and 5 were presented at the ninth, twelfth, and thirteenth annual Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Conferences held at SUNY Binghamton in 1999, 2002, and 2003 respectively. Portions of chapter 7 were presented at the Rocky Mountain Division meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics in 1999, held at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Part of chapter 7 appeared inConsciousness, Literature and the Arts,Vol- ume 2, Number 8, December 2001. I give thanks to all of those who offered their comments and criticisms concerning these early versions of my work. Finally, I would like to give thanks to my cats, Zeta and Dot. Their unconcern with this whole project is somehow comforting.

vii

This page intentionally left blank.

Introduction

The Problem of Nihilism

For the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what was done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind. —Ecclesiastes 2:18

The problem of nihilism, as this passage from the Old Testament suggests, is nothing new. It is, in fact, a perennial concern and a source of anxiety that has had an influence upon human life and thought throughout history. A phe- nomenon that has affected both individuals and whole cultures, nihilism has been likened to a “malaise,” a “cancer,” and a “sickness,” while also having been called a “divine way of thinking,” and an inspiration to artists and scholars. Nihilism has been deemed both a “disease” and a “cure”; something to be feared as well as welcomed. In short, it is a phenomenon that has been con- sidered both an evil and a good. However, by far the most common and widely accepted understanding of nihilism today places it in the category of things to be avoided and shunned. The term has come to be used as a popular expression of ridicule or insult, though it is, even in scholarly literature, often utilized without much preci- sion. These days, the termnihilismis regularly deployed as a weapon, calcu- lated to dismiss an opponent’s “overly negative” or “pessimistic” line of rea- soning. Tellingly, despite the many accusations of nihilism, very few of those

1