A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Nietzsche, us spoke zarathustra, death of god, ubermensch, will to power, eternal return. And it is the same for every action not made, every stillborn thought, every choice avoided. Perspectivism, nietzsche, eternal recurrence, physics. You may be thinking to yourself, self, what the hell am i supposed to do with eternal recurrence. One notable exception is found in the work of friedrich nietzsche 18441900, a 19thcentury german thinker who was known for his unconventional approach to philosophy. Eternal return is a theory that the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring. And some even said that eternal recurrence was such a crucial part of nietzsche, 2 and central to his entire philosophy that without some discussion of the topic, they felt as. Oddly enough, eternal recurrence doesnt figure too prominently into any of the works nietzsche published after thus spoke zarathustra. Eternal return also known as eternal recurrence is a theory that the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a selfsimilar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space. However, there is a section dedicated to the idea in the will to power, a collection of notes published by nietzsches sister elizabeth in 1901.
Walter benjamin juxtaposes blanqui and nietzsches discussion of eternal recurrence in his. One of nietzsche s most famous ideas is that of eternal recurrence, which appears in the penultimate section of his book the gay science. I do this by looking at nietzsches views on nihilism and the role played by nietzsches cyclical view of time, or his doctrine of the eternal recurrence of the same. This work argues that nietzsche employs the circle image to communicate his idea of eternal recurrence in thus spoke zarathustra. At the center ofnietzsches vision lies his concept of the terror and horror. I provide a typology of nihilisms, as they are found. Actually, the principal development of the teaching occurs in thus spoke zarathustra, a poetic work beyond compare. Though nietzsche briefly touches on eternal recurrence a few more times in other works, the quotes given above are the most fundamental, and stand out like two supporting pillars of the doctrine. Friedrich nietzsches theory of eternal recurrence is an essential part of his mature philosophy, but the theorys metaphysical commitments and practical. Some dismiss the idea as a subjective, religious experience and a deceptive illusion. Nietzsche celebrated this recurrence because of the power of belief in it to bring about a revaluation of values focused wholly on the. Nov 20, 2010 yes, eternal recurrence means that every time you choose an action, you must be willing to choose it for all eternity. Time and personal identity in nietzsches theory of eternal.
First, to paraphrase kant, it remains a scandal to nietzsche scholarship that we are obliged to assume the centrality of his doctrine of eternal recurrence but we are not able to give a. Some say that nietzsche actually believed in eternal recurrence, while others say that it is only a thought experiment or a rhetorical device that nietzsche uses to present his ideas. Having read my book, gorfu contra nietzsche, 1 some had commented that a very important dimension of nietzsche s philosophy had been left out. Heideggers critique of nietzsche as the nihilistic peak of the modern project to conquer nature could seem to suggest that the latter thinker argued for the validity of the eternal recurrence in metaphysical treatises. Feb 19, 2010 nietzsche scholarship generally disagrees about how to interpret the idea of eternal recurrence. Could you explain nietzsches concept of eternal recurrence. Apr 08, 2014 the demon has a namenietzscheand is one of the most important philosophers of the 19 th century. Eternal recurrence in nietzsche s philosophy rose pfeffer jl he importance of the theory of eternal recurrence within the framework of nietzsche s thought has been a subject of dispute among nietzsche scholars. Nietzsche, eternal recurrence, and the horror of existence core. In the passage, nietzsche seems to seriously entertain the. Eternal recurrence means repeating all the events in our lifetime again and again, from the time of birth to death, consciously, without altering anything that transpired within that lifetime.