Dionysian Vision of the World
Before the world knew of the thinker who “philosophizes with a hammer,” there was a young, passionate thinker who was captivated by the two forces found within Greek art: Dionysus and Apollo. In this essay, which was the forerunner to his groundbreaking book The Birth of Tragedy, The Dionysian Vision of the World provides an unparalleled look into the philosophical mind of one of Europe’s greatest and provocative intellects at the beginning of his philosophical interrogation on the subject of art. “While dreaming is the game man plays with reality as an individual, the visual artist (in the larger sense) plays a game with dreaming.” This is the Dionysian vision of the world.
Friedrich Nietzsche is considered to be one of the most influential thinkers of contemporary philosophy.
Ira J. Allen is a doctoral candidate in Rhetoric and in Political Philosophy. His previous translations have appeared in such publications as Modern Language Notes and The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History.
Friedrich Ulfers is associate professor of German at New York University.