Full Throttle Heart: The Rapture & Ecstasy of Nietzsche's Dionysian Worldview

This book is divided into three parts. The first, "How to Read Nietzsche" shows Nietzsche's philosophy as sufficiently consistent such that readers should be able to turn to any passage throughout Nietzsche's writings and have their bearings. The second presents the first edition's frolicking, romping, and exhorting dithyrambs in light of the insight that the Dionysian Worldview is the unifying principle of Nietzsche's philosophy. This includes a discussion of the Mysteries of Dionysus as they relate to Plato's dialogs and the Eleusinian Mysteries. Lastly, the third part provides Scalambrino's translation of Nietzsche's so-called "Madness Letters" from January, 1889. The critical side of Friedrich Nietzsche's (1844-1900) philosophy was aimed at modernity. The positive side of Nietzsche's philosophy was aimed at retrieving the Worldview of ancient Greek culture. As incoherent as the critical side of Nietzsche's philosophy may seem, the positive side of his philosophy is consistent; thus, the positive side can render both sides more coherent. Ancient Greek culture honored the sense in which existence is governed by divine forces - forces which exceed the powers of mortals. Similarly, existential mysteries, such as fate, death, and love, exceed our ability to fully grasp them, and, as evidenced by their capacity to overwhelm us, they somehow involve divinity. Thus, according to Nietzsche, the ancient Greeks could exist in authentic communion with such divine forces because the Greeks had a noble relation to their own mortality. This can be envisioned from their point of view regarding tragedy, and Nietzsche called this ancient Greek perspective on existence "the Dionysian Worldview." According to the ancient Greeks: Time is a circle, Dionysus is a god, and a "god" is "that which lights up a world." Thus, on the one hand, the general response which the Dionysian Worldview calls for regarding the Eternal Recurrence of existence, including of course the tragic, may be philosophically characterized as Amor Fati. On the other hand, Full Throttle Heart characterizes the particular experience of Amor Fati in response to tragedy: a response that confirms the Dionysian Worldview by experiencing tragedy as the rapture and ecstasy of divine affectivity.

Author: Frank Scalambrino, Friedrich Nietzsche, Frank Scalambrino

Publisher: Magister Ludi Press

Publication Date: May 24, 2019

Number of Pages: 255 pages

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

ISBN-10: 1947674005

ISBN-13: 9781947674004