The Gay Science

Explain Nietzsche’s concept of the gay science. How does Nietzsche propose this science can help individuals reach happiness?

Why does Nietzsche propose that Shakespeare believed in Brutus and humanity’s need for revenge?

Citing the text, explain Nietzsche’s proposal that selfishness is at the root of all knowledge and virtue.

What does Nietzsche mean when he proposes that all knowledge, even logic, is artifice?

Do you agree with Nietzsche that human belief in God, as he perceived it in Europe, collapsed in the Middle Ages? Why or why not?

Explain Nietzsche’s concept of Dionysian pessimism. 

Do you agree with Nietzsche’s analysis that the best human insights and new knowledge results from fearless, selfish individuals who push conventional boundaries? Why or why not? 

Nietzsche writes that “among the Europeans of to-day there are not lacking those who may call themselves homeless ones in a way which is at once a distinction and an honor” (192). He dedicates his gay science to them. What/who does Nietzsche mean by the “homeless ones”?