Nietzsche: The Gay Science

Nietzsche wrote The Gay Science, which he later described as "perhaps my most personal book," when he was at the height of his intellectual powers, and the reader will find in it an extensive and sophisticated treatment of the philosophical themes and views which were most central to Nietzsche’s own thought and which have been most influential on later thinkers. These include the death of God, the problem of nihilism, the role of truth, falsity and the will-to-truth in human life, the doctrine of the eternal recurrence, and the question of the proper attitude to adopt toward human suffering and toward human achievement. This volume presents the work in a new translation by Josefine Nauckhoff, with an introduction by Bernard Williams that elucidates the work’s main themes and discusses their continuing philosophical importance.

• This is one of Nietzsche’s most important and influential philosophical works, widely taught to undergraduates • Introduction and notes by Bernard Williams, a distinguished philosopher and pre-eminent Nietzsche scholar • We think this edition can match the Kaufmann (Vintage) edition on quality of translation (it corrects several errors) and it easily outstrips it on quality of introduction and annotation

Joke, cunning and revenge: prelude in German rhymes; Book one; Book two; Book three; Book four: St Januarius; Book five: we fearless ones; Appendix: songs of Prince Vogelfrei.

‘The Gay Science deserves prominent attention from philosophers who study Nietzsche’s works, and indeed from anyone with an interest in moral psychology and the origin of our values. this new edition is a great achievement, which should for most purposes supersede Kaufmann as the standard translation, and which will have an important role to play in bringing this work into prominence and in furthering the study of Nietzsche in the English-speaking world.’

– Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews