Nietzsche, Dionysus, and the Deification of Life

Exploring Nietzsche’s conception of divinity and human deification, this book asks what it might mean to heed his calls for the recovery of a more joyful and divine form of life.

Balancing close readings of Nietzsche’s most famous ideas – the will to power, the overman, amor fati, the eternal recurrence, and the centrality of Dionysus – with the preoccupations of contemporary philosophy, Nietzsche, Dionysus and the Deification of Human Life constructs a new reading of Nietzsche''s view of human vitality. Along the way, Nicholas Low broaches questions about the role of philosophy in contemporary life, the boundaries of modern academic disciplines, the power of reading and writing, and the possible futures of Dionysian philosophy.

The book begins with an analysis of The Birth of Tragedy, and interprets The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Beyond Good and Evil to explain the shift in Nietzsche’s thought from profound tragedy to satyr-like playfulness and self-parody. Whilst many scholars have acknowledged the importance of laughter, playfulness, and comedy in Nietzsche’s writing, very few have recognized that Nietzsche invests these categories with a semi-divine power with the capacity to transform human life. Nicholas Low ultimately demonstrates that for Nietzsche, seriousness and the “spirit of gravity” have historically condemned humanity to meagre and reduced forms of life. True transformation requires a spirit of play.