Talk:The Gay Science

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Additional information: Related task forces (major fields): Philosophical literature Related task forces (major traditions): Continental philosophy

The title of the book given by Nietzsche was originally Gaia Scienza. It was the title on Italian.

A list of translations of the book would be helpful. (is there a turkish translation?)

The link to the English version of The Gay Science is directed to an unavailable page.

[edit] Title

When thinking about the title, it might be useful to refer to the section "On those who are sublime" in Thus Spake Zarathustra, Second Part. There, Nietzsche wrote metaphorically: "Still is the bottom of my sea: who would guess that it harbors sportive monsters? Imperturbable is my depth, but it sparkles with swimming riddles and laughter." This indicates that Nietzsche wanted profound knowledge to be accompanied by fun and gaiety. He opposed deep thinkers who were "…decked out with ugly truths…" but were gloomy and had "…not learned laughter… ." Nietzsche's response to his knowledge and understanding of the horrors of life and death was dancing laughter and a gay science.Lestrade 16:14, 12 July 2007 (UTC)Lestrade

"In Nietzsche's time, the word "gay" in English was not a euphemism for "homosexual". The homosexual connotation of "gay" did not become widespread until the mid-20th century." The fact that the article has to explain this makes me lose a little more faith in humanity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.148.237.44 (talk) 16:42, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Faith in humanity? The title basically means that Nietzsche had knowledge (science) of life's meaninglessness and of the finality of death, yet he could be light-hearted and even happy. Knowledge, itself, was a source of pleasure for him. Lestrade (talk) 21:14, 9 March 2008 (UTC)Lestrade

Nietzsche didn't use the word "gay" -- it's Kaufman's translation. Therefore, this sentence is actually wrong and I suggest just taking it out entirely. Philosophygeek (talk) 06:26, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Section 125

Isn't this a copyright violation? It's the exact text from Kaufman's translation of The Gay Science. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Philosophygeek (talk • contribs) 06:29, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Excerpts are fair use. Citing even a few paragraphs is legal, let alone less than 20 words. <eleland/talkedits> 02:29, 27 May 2008 (UTC)