The books discussed in this article examine Nietzsche’s philosophy of life in different ways. Nietzsche’s theory of art as well as his Dionysian philosophy play a special role, which emphasizes the possible continuity of these terms in Nietzsche’s works. An additional focus of attention are Nietzsche’s philosophy of the body as well as his relationship to the theory of evolution. Nietzsche’s position is distinguished from Darwinism by the former’s focus on an anti-essentialist critique of the concept of nature and of (...) mind-body dualism. Finally, the possibilities of a phenomenological interpretation of Nietzsche are taken into consideration, which situates the concept of the life-world, or Lebenswelt, in the context of Nietzsche’s own conception of life. (shrink)

The title of this presentation encompasses three issues: (1) an enigmatic theme (the play of signs and signs of play); (2) a model of doing something, such as unraveling a puzzle; and (3) a methodology dealing with a probable case. Considering that the order of analysis runs in the opposite direction to the order of experience, my first task is to reverse the title. Then, its three parts become: (1) an eidetic and empirical conjunction that implies a taste for evidence; (...) (2) a rigorous model of analysis that implies a relationship between ontology (what I know) and epistemology (how I know); and (3) a case that brings an enigmatic theme. My title, based in the theme of our 42nd Annual Meeting, provided an experience peculiar to a non-native English speaker: how to interpret and use the word “play”. I really felt like I was a living exemplar of one of Professor Lanigan’s favorite examples: what dictionaries and encyclopedias say or do not say. Lanigan said that “dictionaries tell you how to use the words (forms, ideas) but not what word to use” and “encyclopedias tell you what facts to use (structure, experience), but not how to use them” (1992: 208–209). That was my situation with the word “play”. Webster’s dictionary gave me around fifty different meanings for the word “play”. Which one should I choose? I am sure that I made the best choice, as I will demonstrate throughout this presentation, organized around these three ideas that in an inverse order would be theory, method, and case. (shrink)