What did Nietzsche say about eternal recurrence?
The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust! ‘
What is the concept of eternal recurrence?
Definition of eternal recurrence : the infinitely cyclical repetition of all things and situations with respect to a finite universe —used in Nietzschean philosophy.
What is eternal recurrence in Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
Throughout the novel, Zarathustra speculates about something called the eternal return, or recurrence. 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.
Where does Nietzsche eternal return?
Nietzsche’s formulation Nietzsche wrote that the concept of eternal return first occurred to him at Lake Silvaplana, “beside a huge rock that towered aloft like a pyramid”.
What is the eternal return and what purpose does it serve?
It represents the self-healing tendency of the mind to rescue itself from a state of overwhelming dread and disintegration. Following the emergence of Eternal Return, Nietzsche enjoyed seven years of great creativity and wrote some of his most lucid and insightful philosophical works.
Is Nietzsche a nihilist?
Summary. Nietzsche is a self-professed nihilist, although, if we are to believe him, it took him until 1887 to admit it (he makes the admission in a Nachlass note from that year). No philosopher’s nihilism is more radical than Nietzsche’s and only Kierkegaard’s and Sartre’s are as radical.
Why might the eternal return be considered a reasonable response to cultural relativism?
One advantage of the eternal return is that it adds gravity to life. Forcing you to accept every decision you make as one you’ll repeat forever is compelling you to take those decisions seriously, to think them through. Another connected advantage of the eternal return is that it forces you to make your own decisions.
What is Nietzsche magnum opus?
From the autumn of 1886—after having finished Jenseits von Gut und Böse—Nietzsche began to refer to the projected major work explicitly as his magnum opus, his ‘Hauptwerk’, and he now has a better grasp of what it ought to contain after having drafted titles and contents in his notebooks for several years.
Is eternal recurrence a thought experiment?
We can more profitably think of eternal recurrence as a thought experiment to determine how one would react if one believed it to be true. This is precisely how he presents the idea in The Joyous Science. The point of the thought experiment is a sort of test of one’s relationship with one’s life.
What is freedom according to Nietzsche?
he maintains that freedom is: “That one has the will to self- responsibility.”’ 5 For Nietzsche a person is responsible and punishable. for his or her deeds because these deeds are the self and proceed from a. person’s concrete make-up of habits, desires, and purposes.
What is Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence?
The eternal recurrence is a central notion of Nietzsche’s thought. In Ecce Homo, he states: “I now wish to relate the history of Zarathustra. The fundamental idea of the work, the Eternal Recurrence, the highest formula of a Yes-saying to life that can ever be attained, was first conceived in the month of August 1881.
Does Nietzsche believe in eternal life?
Despite his this-worldliness, with his teaching of eternal recurrence, Nietzsche no less than the Christians preaches an immortality – we shall all return, just as we are, again and again, forever – that lacks any empirical warrant.
What is Nietzsche’s idea of convalescence?
Sickness and convalescence is an important theme throughout Nietzsche’s writings, and reflects his personal fight with constant illness. He refers to the critical time in which out of sickness great health is born as “the highest time”, pain and pleasure are therefore closely tied together. He states:
What is Nietzsche’s Overman?
Also, as do the Christians, Nietzsche’s overman avows his love for an eternity that, albeit non-transcendent in his case, exceeds human grasp and knowledge. The overman radically differs from the ancients in that he wills the eternal repetition of the selfsame. Yet one need not will a fact of nature.