Eternal recurrence revisited issue 7 philosophy now. That everything recurs is the extremest approximation of a world of becoming to the word of being, remains wrapped in thick clouds, not due to any inability in nietzsche s own thinking, but because it is the matter itself which is named by the term the eternal recurrence of the same that is wrapped in a darkness from which. The will to power is a prominent concept in the philosophy of friedrich nietzsche. Scholars keep trying to limit it to a thought experiment. Gm, human, all too human hh, twilight of the idols ti, will to power wp. A terrific presentation of eternal recurrence in a scene from nietzsche wept, which was an otherwise poor film. He calls it will to power deleuze, nietzsche and philosophy 1962, 45. Nietzsche presents this principle as one of his most important philosophical discoveries. Nietzsche, eternal recurrence, and the horror of existence core. 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. The project gutenberg ebook of the will to power, book i and.
The eternal return, suffering, and the affirmation. Eternal recurrence is the idea that everything in existence has been recurring for an infinite number of times across time and space and will continue to do so. Its significance to nietzsche s philosophy as a whole when presented either as an imaginative thought experiment, a cosmological hypothesis, or a poetic metaphor. The essay argues that while waiting for godot shares many of the premises.
Nietzsche and the eternal recurrence thought trajectories. Towards an understanding of nietzsches will to power virtual. The reason for eternal change eternal return is that the essence of the core of everything is will to power. In this post we will explore the meaning behind the will to power. 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. Friedrich nietzsche, letter to georg brandes, april, i 0, 1888, in selected letters. Only someone who casts off old values and their associated guiltsomeone who exercises the will to power is capable of accepting and rejoicing in the eternal recurrence. But, as observed, if this requires one to give auschwitz ones unqualified blessing then the test must obviously be rejected.
The secondary literature on nietzsches eternal recurrence is rather extensive. Throughout the 1880s, in his notebooks, nietzsche developed a theory of the eternal recurrence of the same and much speculation on the physical possibility of this idea and the mechanics of its actualization occur in his later notebooks. The notion that life is cyclical, that death is followed by rebirth ad infinitum, was entertained in the ancient world not only by eastern philosophers but also by greek thinkers such as empedocles and the stoics, as nietzsche would certainly have known. This article will retrieve heideggers interpretation on nietzsche s will to power and a phenomenological interpretation of jungs writing on complexes and the rosarium philosophorum to project a new meaning to explain jungs transcendent function. The manifestation of will to power is eternal change eternal return. Heideggers view of nietzschean eternal recurrence in lecture x of was hei. This isnt the same thing as the concept of reincarnation, because nietzsche posited that beings would return in the same bodies.
I just finished ecce homo, which says in the tsz chapter. The historical situation that conditions nietzsches will to power. Nietzsches dionysian world the will to power and the eternal recurrence. Nietzsche, who is usually associated with the death of god and the will to power in the popular mind, also raised the question of life, drawing upon both schopenhauer 3 and kant as well as classical philosophy and letters. How, if some day or night a demon were to sneak after you into your loneliest loneliness and. Nietzsches dionysian world the will to power and the eternal. The will to power is nietzsches philosophical magnum opus. In nietzsche s book thus spoke zarathustra, there are three major teachings zarathustra has to offer. Will to power in nietzsches published works and the. This book examines the cogency and value of nietzsche s idea of eternal recurrence, as an antidote to the nihilism resulting from the catastrophic event of the death of god. Nietzsche would reply by the will to power, by the principle of the innocence of becoming and by the total affirmation of our eternal recurrence or repetition on this very earth, thereby becoming a superman. Nietzsche, friedrich internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
This article shows that nietzsche s published presentations endorse the cosmological truth of eternal recurrence and that they indicate how belief in this truth can be supported with direct mnemonic evidence as well as a priori scientific proof. Jan 23, 2019 on the other hand, the majority of scholars who have tried to tackle nietzsche s philosophy consider it more appropriate to approach the debate around the eternal recurrence of the same as an open issue, since it is not entirely clear if the philosopher wanted to express a scientific truth or a moral message, or possibly both. Nietzsche did not invent the idea of eternal recurrence. But it was clearly far more than that for nietzsche, as i set forth in my book. The eternal return as a scientific theory is the idea that all events and experiences in the universe will be repeated again and again for all eternity. The will to power is the thought of eternal change. The will to power and eternal recurrence friedrich nietzsche. Eternal recurrence theme in thus spoke zarathustra litcharts. C it is impossible to step into the same river twice. For nietzsche, eternity isnt better than this lifeits the recurrence of this life, both good and bad. Should you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. Oct 14, 2019 this turn yields nietzsche s most controversial concepts. Arnold zuboff speculates that the reason he left the work. By eternal recurrence nietzsche referred to his belief that.
Nietzsche revisits his philosophy of eternal recurrence in the will to. Jan 29, 2019 nietzsche revisits his philosophy of eternal recurrence in the will to power, an idea proposed earlier in the gay science. Friedrich nietzsche conceived of the will to power as an irrational force. Nietzsche, friedrich 2007b, on the genealogy of morality, translated by carol diethe, cam. In this video, i explain the idea of eternal recurrence in nietzsche s philosophy. Perspectivism, nietzsche, eternal recurrence, physics. Throughout the 1880s, in his notebooks, nietzsche also developed an equally elusive theory of the eternal recurrence of the same and much speculation on the physical possibility of this idea and the mechanics of its actualization recur in his later notebooks. I intend to present an informed comprehensive proposition which reconciles nietzsche s doctrines of eternal recurrence and will to power, in an 4 gm ii 7, p.
While the metaphysical interpretation fails to harmonize with key features. Friedrich nietzsche stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Nietzsche s embrace of the idea of eternal recurrence has long puzzled readers, both because the idea is inherently implausible and because it seems inconsistent with other aspects of his philosophy. The superman, the will to power and the eternal return harry neumann, scripps college, claremont, ca, u. Nietzsches eternal recurrence as a psychological test of action. In the rest of their speech, zarathustras animals further deduce the recurrence of zarathustra himself when they claim to know the deathbed speech he would give to himself. In this zarathustra passage, as in gs 341, nietzsche deduces from his cosmological the ory of eternal recurrence the recurrence of living beings such as zarathustras animals. Nietzsche celebrated this recurrence because of the power of belief in it to bring about a revaluation of values focused wholly on the value of ones endlessly repeating life. The eternal return, or eternal recurrence of the same appears in thus spoke zarathustra and, more fully, as a thought experiment in the gay science, section 341. The fundamental idea of the work, the eternal recurrence, the highest formula of a life affirmation that can ever be attained was first conceived in the month of august 1881. Considering the concept of will to power, i propose that.
Pdf zarathustra, the moment, and eternal recurrence of the same. I will discuss its importance from a scientific, metaphysical, and ethical perspective. It may be said that, from the day when nietzsche first recognised the necessity of making a more unequivocal appeal to his public than the zarathustra had been, that is to say, from the spring of 1883, his work in respect of the will to power suffered no interruption whatsoever, and that it was his chief preoccupation from that period until his. Introduction friedrich wilhelm nietzsche was born on october 15, 1844, in rocken, then part of prussia. Nietzsche presents the idea of eternal recurrence in many forms and under many aspects. The eternal recurrence of the same and the will to power, two. Nietzsches writings, but strangely, like the other central notions of eternal recurrence and the. This essay examines the play in light of some of nietzsche s key concepts, such as the will to power, the ubermensch or overman, the eternal recurrence, as well as the aesthetic conception of existence. Oct 10, 2017 nietzsche was particularly proud of this concept. Eternal recurrence analysis in thus spoke zarathustra litcharts.
Nietzsche s idea of the eternal recurrence, which posits that time is infinite and matter finite, suggests that eventually all physically known possibilities, whether actualized or not, must repeat previously actualized. I show first that nietzsche was deeply committed to each of these principles at or before the time the idea of eternal recurrence came to him in 1881 and second that these principles, though in apparent conflict, can, as nietzsche understood them, be reconciled by, and only by, the idea of eternal recurrence. Run lola ru n, the internet, and nietzsches theory of. The eternal recurrence is zarathustra s concept of the infinite recurrence of all creatures in both the past and the future. Sep 18, 2020 in nietzsche s book thus spoke zarathustra, there are three major teachings zarathustra has to offer. Valid both as the playbook of absolute idealism and as a profound spiritual insight. Some scholars believe that nietzsche used the concept of eternal recurrence metaphorically. Some sections of this book make it clear that nietzsche took seriously the idea that the will to power might be a fundamental principle operating throughout the cosmos. Friedrich nietzsche nietzsches mature philosophy britannica. The scientific basis of nietzsche s theory of eternal recurrence most of the material which refers to nietzsche s scientific ideas. The superman, the will to power and the eternal return. Pdf i critically examine nietzsches argument in the will to power that all the detailed events of the world are repeating infinite times on. The will to power as knowledge and metaphysics 1986.
Here, the will to power as a potential physics is integrated with the postulated eternal recurrence. Will to power and eternal recurrence of the same matthew gildersleeve abstract. His father, karl ludwig nietzsche, and both grandfathers were lutheran ministers. Introduction friedrich nietzsche considered his socalled doctrine of eternal recurrence to be of the greatest personal, philosophical and even worldhistorical importancewhich is also why many of his readers. I will argue that the psychological test interpretation is to be preferred above the metaphysical interpretation. Hey all, im trying to gain a better understanding of nietzsche s argument for eternal recurrence. Nietzsche, we cannot reduce suffering, and to keep hoping that we can will simply. Otto caspari and johann carl friedrich zollner, who. The secondary literature on nietzsche s eternal recurrence is rather extensive. Finally, nietzsche wrote in his notes for will to power that a doctrine is required, strong enough to have the effect of breeding. Mar 09, 2021 the eternal recurrence of the same by mark musser karl lowiths 18971973 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. Nietzsche embraces the doctrine of eternal recurrence for the first time in the.
Why nietzsche embraced eternal recurrence sciencedirect. Feb 12, 2020 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 concept 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. The being of all beings as will to power is manifested in change. Although it is mostly discussed in thus spoke zarathustra.
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