The Gay Science | Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science is one of Nietzsche’s most beautiful and important books. He describes it as “the most personal of all his books”.

Gay Science has the overtones of a light-hearted defiance of convention; it suggests Nietzsche’s “immoralism” and his “revaluation of all values”. In Nietzsche’s own words, one must strive to be an “artistic Socrates”, a philosopher with both an intellectual conscience and with a feeling for art.

The book contains Nietzsche’s first proclamation of the death of God, as well as the eternal recurrence, both of which are in response to nihilism. It also contains some of his most sustained discussions on knowledge and truth, the intellectual conscience, and the miseries that accompany religion and morality, warning us against the “preachers of morality”.

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📘 The Book

▶ The Gay Science (1882)

📚 Other Recommended Reading (High Quality and Best Translations)

▶ The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
▶ Human, All Too Human (1878)
▶ The Dawn of Day (1881)
▶ Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)
▶ Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
▶ On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
▶ Ecce Homo (1888)

🎧 Prefer Audiobooks? Get a 30-day Audible Plus FREE trial:

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⌛ Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
1:36 Content and structure
5:50 Parable of the Madman: God is Dead
7:30 Nihilism
8:00 Eternal Recurrence

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📝 Sources

- The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs (1974). Walter Kaufmann (Translator)

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🎶 Music used

1. Water Prelude – Kevin MacLeod
2. Wounded – Kevin MacLeod
3. Earnest – Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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Thanks for watching, I appreciate it!

#nietzsche #gayscience

[Eternalised]

*"Looking away shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.”*
— Friedrich Nietzsche

[vetize]

I have such a respect for this channel and the person behind it. My English has become so much better since I watch it. You have the gift to explain highly complicated topics quit simply, yet the great works of Nietzsche dont lose their deep sense. You truly help me to become a better person. All the best to you, thank you

[harshkumarjha]

Man, you are miraculously good at this. You explain such sophisticated topics without them loosing their inherent complexity. You deserve much more than this.
I am deeply grateful to you for I have learnt very complex of ideas with this ease from this channel.

[achase]

i love i wake up to this. i planned to start these works this weekend. great work!!

[satnamo]

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Wakes up and gets up before dawn
To read and write until 11, uninterrupted.

He then goes for a walk along the lakes
Or through the forests.

Returning to de hotel for lunch,
He eats an enormous amount of fruits
And a beef steak.

Then he goes for an even longer walk
To das majestic glaciers.

Returning to his room in de evening,
He survives on biscuits and tea.

He reads and write until his eyes burn out at 11.

De secret to a good night sleep is

to stay awake all day.

[musonobari]

The presentation in these videos is simply amazing!

[patrickclark]

This channel really brings Nietzche's philosophy to life in a beautiful way. Bravo sir.

[TheLivingPhilosophy]

Wonderful stuff as ever! The Gay Science has been my favourite Nietzsche book since I first read it I love Beyond Good and Evil and it's perhaps more important but I just love the Gay Science for some reason and you've inspired me to return for a re-read.
One note though or perhaps a question if it's something you thought about already but the aphoristic style isn't quite Nietzsche's invention and he explicitly admires Balthasar Gracian and La Rochefoucauld as his predecessors in this style. His eyes definitely played a part in his turning to it but also the nature of his thought. Always loved his line the twilight of the idols that "it is my ambition to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a book—what everyone else does not say in a book."
As ever great summary and an inspiration to return to the originals!

[whitenose]

You described the eternal reoccurrence so clearly. I’ve watched 30 minute videos based only on the eternal reoccurrence and haven’t grasped the idea as much as those few sentences you’ve said in this video. Good stuff!

[aminberjaouitahmaz]

Your explanations are as amazing as ever. Glad to see your channel growing!

[karsim]

Superb video, thank you, keep up the good work!

[allanrodriguez]

As English is not my prior language and a beginner in reading such books, ther are words and terms for me hard to translate and understand, that's why i watch your videos then back to the book to understand even further. Thank you very much. Really appreciate how all these genius philosophers that have lived affects my life for the better.

[shepherdoffire]

Im just getting into Nietzsche but he out of all philosophy ive ever heard, has come closest to the experiences ive had in my 21 years of life. Henceforth his philosophy becoming more prevalent the more i continue to experience existence and grow. Theres something to Nietzsche that i fear. Ive had this thought before.... that insanity is not necessarily “insane”, but insanity is the achievement of an all knowing, an awakened one. They have journeyed to far out into the unknown that they cant seem to find a way back.

Which comes back to Nietzsche. Did he make it to the point of the all knowing? Was his brain full of the secrets of the universe and could not take such information therefore gave up on its own weight? It fears me to keep journeying to the unknown looking for answers only to find an answer the human brain is incapable of knowing and living with for the rest of its existence.

Theres something to Nietzsche.... dont care what your religion is but at least consider reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra (the one im reading now) its such a beautiful masterpiece. Ive woken up to a lot of his sentences being played back in my head. Great book.

[inchbyinchstories]

This was really interesting. Thanks my friend, I know how much time goes into preparing something detailed like this. Keep it up.

[davekiss]

Thank you man. You are clear with density.

[shepherdoffire]

Also love your channel. Cant believe you dont have over one hundred thousand subscribers. Guess the seekers of knowledge are a minority. At least you know the videos you put out are appreciated by us! Awesome work! Love seeing your videos!

[PhilosophyToons]

Dope vid. Question though, how do you find so many different images of Nietzsche on the internet? I can only find like 4 lol

[hichamboulos]

Alas! This kind of video should be watched by millions. People worldwide are declining when it comes to culture, literature, humanities, and arts.

[DreamsEnd]

Ah, this epic build-up to the climax of your videos accompanied by the music sends chills down my spine <3

[Davlavi]

This channel deserves way more likes. Keep up the great videos.