Eternal recurrence thus offers a notion of immortality counter to the one proposed by Christianity. 2: The Eternal Return (1984); Vol. "Nietzsche's Idea of Eternal Recurrence." Philip J. Kain - 2007 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 45 (1):105-116. by Michael Allen Gillespie and Tracy B. “We would consider every day wasted,” remarks Zarathustra, “in which we had not danced at least once. Plan for an unfinished book: The Eternal Recurrence. In Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, there are three major teachings Zarathustra has to offer: the Will to Power, the conception of the Eternal Recurrence and the advocacy of the Overman.. Nietzsche did not invent the idea of eternal recurrence. In this post we will explore the meaning behind his second teaching, the Eternal Recurrence. He adds the charge of psychopathology because of biblical Christianity’s lust for bloody sacrifice and revenge. After introducing the idea at the end of The Gay Science, he made it one of the fundamental concepts of his next work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Hatab thinks that Nietzsche is right: one ‘ought to measure up’ to ‘the existential test of eternal recurrence’ (p. 113) if one is to be a psychically healthy human being. For Löwith, then, eternal return is inextricably linked to historical nihilism and offers both cosmological and anthropological grounds for accepting imperatives of self-overcoming. He calls it the “fundamental conception” of Zarathustra, which he celebrates as “the highest book there is … also the deepest, born out of the innermost wealth of truth” (EH III, Z 1; P 4). As is familiar to everyone, Christianity and other Scriptural faiths paint a fundamentally progressive portrait of the course of the universe. The idea of eternal return or eternal recurrence has existed in various forms since antiquity. Lowith was Jewish. He charges Christianity with nihilism because it radically depreciates the only life we certainly do have, life in this world, for the sake of an unknown afterlife. No one aspires to greatness. This thought connects with the dominant theme of Book IV of The Gay Science, which is the importance of being a “yea-sayer,” a life-affirmer, and of embracing amor fati (love of one’s fate). It is clear that Cohle recounts this idea in a pessimistic manner; indeed it magnifies the absurdity of life by declaring its endless repetition. The very opening song of the currently trending Netflix series “Dark” _ “Goodbye” by Apparat, with an eerie beginning and subtle lyrics, consists of manyfold references to decipher. All rights reserved. Nietzsche was born on October 15, 1844, in Röcken (near Leipzig),where his father was a Lutheran minister. The world’s eternally self-creating, self-destroying play is conditioned by time. Nietzsche’s talk of renouncing a desire for an ‘‘ulti-mate peace’’ and willing the ‘‘eternal recurrence of war and peace’’ (GS 285) also recalls Heraclitus’ view of war as common to all things (Fr. 'All truth is crooked, time itself is a circle. Our religious roots, our powerful moral attachments to democracy and to natural rights, may partly explain our evident reluctance to descend into such theoretical and psychological depths, beyond good and evil. (trans. A third point of divergence between Eliade’s version of eternal return and Nietzsche’s concerns the question of what exactly returns and how. Actually, the principal development of the teaching occurs in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a poetic work beyond compare. Far from warding off history, eternal recurrence for Nietzsche is, paradoxically, a necessary condition if we are to take but a single step forwards. Nietzsche had a brilliant school and university career,culminating in May 1869 when he was called to a chair in classicalphilology at Basel. No less seductively, in our time, even philosophy can appear on the scene draped in the robes of venerable tradition. But he complains that the so-called ‘higher men’, a comical, foul-smelling lot who worship the braying, yes-saying ass that represents the eternal return, slumber while he is awake. Seneca Epistulae morales 95, 13. However, there is a section dedicated to the idea in The Will to Power, a collection of notes published by Nietzsche’s sister Elizabeth in 1901. Kain, P. J. John Nolt - 2008 - History of European Ideas 34 (3):310-323. Westacott, Emrys. Outlining a section he planned to complete, he writes: “1. The eternal recurrence is most heavily referred to by Friedrich Nietzsche in his 1883 Thus Spoke Zarathustra, where it serves primarily as a thought experiment proposed by the title character (Zarathustra) that is meant to designate a supreme achievement of human development; the ascension to a higher type of consciousness in man. In Part IV, Zarathustra attests to his love for his animals as natural beings. Eternal Recurrence and the Categorical Imperative. (This isn’t the same thing as the concept of reincarnation, because Nietzsche posited that beings would return in the same bodies.) (trans. To be sure, God’s death was a dreadful, earthshaking event. For all our lives, we are taught to lead honorable lives — do what you love, steer clear of the deadly sins, etc. In Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, there are three major teachings Zarathustra has to offer: the Will to Power, the conception of the Eternal Recurrence and the advocacy of the Overman.. As the hunchback in Part II unmistakably intimates, Zarathustra says one thing to his disciples and something quite different to himself. https://www.thoughtco.com/nietzsches-idea-of-the-eternal-recurrence-2670659 (accessed April 6, 2021). In the passage, Nietzsche seems to seriously entertain the possibility that the doctrine is literally true. No one would really know or confirm if particular things … Westacott, Emrys. We are fed a perception of what an “objectively” good life entails. 6.0 Eternal Recurrence And Morality As has been explained in the previous sections, the show has it’s roots deep in Nietzschean philosophy, or more specifically, Nietzsche’s theory of Eternal recurrence where all moments--the past present and the future--keep … ThoughtCo. In the passage, Nietzsche seems to seriously entertain the possibility that the doctrine is literally true. Nietzsche often thought of his writings as struggles with nihilism, and apart from his critiques of religion, philosophy, and morality he developed original theses that have commanded attention, especially perspectivism, the will to power, eternal recurrence, and the superman. Regarding spiritual independence, Nietzsche goes so far as to declare openly, in The Genealogy of Morals, that it is better to will the nothing than not will; an outrageously bold and exaggerated restatement of Socratic impiety that, to say the least, cannot be defended without careful qualification. Among other things, the Tower of Babel, comprised of religious sects and a multitude of incompatible revelations, indicated to Nietzsche that we are bereft of a divinity who can communicate clearly. Zarathustra, the prophet-like figure who proclaims Nietzsche’s teachings in this volume, is at first reluctant to articulate the idea, even to himself. Nietzsche designated the originally unpublished Fourth and Final Part as “for my friends and not for the public”. Several interpretations for this fact have been offered. By continuing to browse the site with cookies enabled in your browser, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy. J. Harvey Lomax) Univ of California Press, 1997. Why Nietzsche Embraced Eternal Recurrence. 1 Karl Löwith, Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same. I believe Nietzsche’s sole intent with this concept of eternal recurrence was to get us plugged in to the significance of our acts. Readers of Nietzsche are in almost universal agreement that the thought Zarathustra slowly confronts and then whispers to Life is the doctrine of the eternal recurrence. Friedrich Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence is an essential part of his mature philosophy, but the theory’s metaphysical commitments and practical implications are both obscure. You can read four articles free per month. In this post we will explore the meaning behind his second teaching, the Eternal Recurrence. Memorial to Nietzsche in Turin. Perhaps a central purpose of the whole book is to purge the psyche, of every potential Zarathustra, of the temptation to minister to any form of piety? But the second-best thing for you is to die soon.~ Friedrich Nietzsche – The Birth of Tragedy (Chap. Nietzsche himself suggests that the eternal recurrence was his most important thought, but that has not made it any easier for commentators to understand. The Nietzschean images of nobility derive their pedagogical necessity from the manifest inadequacies of bourgeois existence and from the irrepressible longings of the great-souled young. It was here that he first proclaimed the death of God—to which a large part of the book is devoted—and his doctrine of the eternal recurrence. One of Nietzsche's most famous ideas is that of eternal recurrence, which appears in the penultimate section of his book The Gay Science. Put simply, it's the theory that existence recurs in an infinite cycle as energy and matter transform over time. Karl Lowith’s (1897-1973) "Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same" was surprisingly published in Berlin in 1935 during the rise of National Socialism which increasingly glorified certain aspects of Nietzsche’s thought as the Third Reich wore on. The contemporary world has had its share of Nietzscheans – from Peter Gast to Ernst Bertram as well as other members of the Stefan George Circle; from fascist leader Gabrielle d’Annunzio and Protestant pastors Albert Kalthoff and Max Maurenbrecher to socialist-anarchist Gustav Landauer; from expressionist Gottfried Benn (prior to 1933) to post-modernists such as Michel Foucault and Georges Bataille4 – notwithstanding the deeply paradoxical character of Nietzsche’s doctrines. The universe according to Nietzsche: Modern cosmology and the theory of eternal recurrence The philosopher's musings on the nature of reality could have scientific basis, according to a … Eternal Recurrence The Gay Science is one of Nietzsche's most personal works, collecting not only his philosophical reflections but also a number of poems, aphorisms, and songs. Strong. In Friedrich Nietzsche: Nietzsche’s mature philosophy The doctrine of eternal recurrence, the basic conception of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, asks the question “How well disposed would a person have to become to himself and to life to crave nothing more fervently than the infinite repetition, without alteration, of each and every moment?” Now I bid you to lose me and find yourselves.” Nor have they heeded an absolutely crucial passage in Nietzsche’s Antichrist (54): “One should not be misled: great minds are skeptics. In the twentieth century “the plebeianism of the modern spirit, which is of English origin, erupted once again on its native soil…” (Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals, I, 4). © Philosophy Now 2021. The universe according to Nietzsche: Modern cosmology and the theory of eternal recurrence The philosopher's musings on the nature of reality could have scientific basis, according to a … In ancient Greece, the Stoics believed that the universe went through repeating stages of transformation similar to those found in the "wheel of time" of Hinduism and Buddhism. My philosophy brings the triumphant idea of which all other modes of thought will ultimately perish. Faiths paint a fundamentally progressive portrait of the doctrine and its theoretical presuppositions and consequences fiction on... “ these are not my proper companions, ” he exclaims literal truth in of. Biblical Christianity ’ s New Seas, ed to Nietzsche ’ s most challenging doctrine and a cosmological doctrine world-cycles! 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