ABSTRACT

Nietzsche is one of the most famous philosophers in the 20th century. He went through his life time almost in floating. In the earlier period of his life, he was deeply influenced by Schopenhauer’s pessimistic thought, but finally chose the opposite course to build his philosophy. He established his Dionysian Spirit, which is the source and essence of his philosophy. Based on the pessimistic precondition, Nietzsche told us to affirm life through the Dionysian Spirit. The will to power, the super person and the revaluation of all values are all based on this spirit which advocates an irrational celebration of life’s tragedies. Although human being’s lives are doomed to be tragic, we also can dance to go through it. Nietzsche’s philosophy affected much of his following philosophers. Jean--Paul Sartre and other existentialists considered Nietzsche as their most important forerunners.

Although he has been dead for more than 100 years, his philosophy still permeates in many aspects of our life. Modern value, modern artistic works and modern carnival culture are connected with Dionysian Spirit to some extends. The paper aims to put efforts on the interpretation of this concept and its practical significance.

In the first chapter, I made a brief introduction on Nietzsche’s life and his pessimistic thought. His family and his early experiences are the foundation of the formation of his philosophical thought. His positive pessimism leads him to Dionysian Spirit.

I started to interpret Dionysian Spirit in the second chapter. I firstly introduced Apollonian Spirit, and make a contrast of it with Dionysian Spirit. Then I introduced the will to power as an important extension of Dionysian Spirit.

     I discussed the reflection of Dionysian Spirit in artistic works in the following chapter and took some examples on classic films and literature. Then I discussed the relationship between violence aesthetics and Dionysian Spirit.

The fourth chapter centers on the modern carnival. It analyses some typical phenomenons in the modern society to reveal the influence and significance of Dionysian Spirit in our modern life.

Key words: Pessimistic Thought; Dionysian Spirit; artistic works with Dionysian Spirit; modern carnival culture

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

Chapter1 Introduction-4

1.1 Introduction on Nietzsche’s Life-4

1.2 Nietzsche’s Pessimistic Thought-5

Chapter 2 Dionysian Spirit-7

2.1 The Two Different Worlds-7

2.1.1 Apollonian Spirit-7

2.1.2 Dionysian Spirit-9

2.2 The Will to Power-10

Chapter3 Dionysian Spirit Reflected in Artistic Works-11

3.1 Individual Dionysian Spirit and Collective Dionysian Spirit-11

3.2 Dionysian Spirit Reflected on Violence Aesthetics-13

Chapter 4 Modern Carnival Culture And Beyond-14

4.1 Modern Carnival-14

4.2 Live Broadcasting and Variety-15

4.3 Echo of The Colloseum-16

Chapter 5 Conclusion-17

References-18

Acknowledgements-19