Book Description

This lecture is Nietzsche's initial formulation of the Dionysian concept, which later becomes central to his philosophical work, especially present in "The Birth of Tragedy." The original German title is "Die dionysische Weltanschauung", usually translated as "The Dionysian World-view". Here Nietzsche contrasts two meta-psychological Archetypical artistic forces: the Dionysian and the Apollonian, drawing heavily on Greek mythology. The Dionysian aspect represents chaos, emotion, irrationality, and the uncontrollable aspects of human nature, similar to the characteristics of the Greek god Dionysus, associated with wine, fertility, ritual madness, and religious ecstasy. Conversely, the Apollonian represents order, reason, and the aesthetic qualities of structure and form, associated with the god Apollo, the god of art, light, and reason. This is where Carl Jung gets his Anima/ Animus dichotomy. The Dionysian Worldview was given by the newly minted Professor Nietzsche at the Basel Museum held on February 1, 1870, and subsequently published but the foundation managed by his sister. This lecture was first published in the volume "Gesammelte Werke" edited by Peter Gast (a pseudonym for Heinrich Köselitz, a close associate of Nietzsche) and Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (Nietzsche's sister). They were included in the second series of these collected works under the title "Philologica," which was published in 1897. This was part of the effort to compile and publish Nietzsche's unpublished manuscripts and lecture notes after his death. This is one of three major Basel lectures he gave immediately after he accepted a position at the University of Basel. At the young age of 24, Nietzsche accepted a philology professorship in 1869, which facilitated his acquaintance with the composer residing in Tribschen. During this period, Nietzsche delivered three lectures that prefigured his future focus: 'The Greek Musical Drama' on January 18, 'Socrates and Tragedy' on February 1, and the 'The Dionysian Worldview' in July/August 1870. Feeling constrained by philological topics, Nietzsche sought a professorship in philosophy. His writing primarily reflects influences from two significant sources: the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and the musical and theoretical works of Richard Wagner. This new 2024 translation from the original German, Latin and Greek manuscript contains a new Afterword by the translator, a timeline of Nietzsche's life and works, an index with descriptions of his core concepts and summaries of his complete body of works. This translation is designed to allow the armchair philosopher to engage deeply with Nietzsche's works without having to be a full-time Academic. The language is modern and clean, with simplified sentence structures and diction to make Nietzsche's complex language and arguments as accessible as possible. This Reader's Edition also contains extra material that amplifies the manuscript with autobiographical, historical and linguistic context. This provides the reader a holistic view of this very enigmatic philosopher as both an introduction and an exploration of Nietzsche's works; from his general understanding of his philosophic project to an exploration of the depths of his metaphysics and unique contributions. This edition contains: • An Afterword by the Translator on the history, impact and intellectual legacy of Nietzsche • Translation notes on the original German manuscript • An index of Philosophical concepts used by Nietzsche with a focus on Existentialism and Phenomenology • A complete chronological list of Nietzsche's entire body of works • A detailed timeline of Nietzsche's life journey