Saturday, July 25

Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence-

Eternal recurrence is possibly best described as a thought experiment. It is the antithesis to Nihilism. I have also attempted to add in a few practical applications for us to invite discussions along the way.            

It boils down to the fact one who is able to enthusiastically face the prospect existence in an endless cycle of never ending events, that person has found the meaning in life and gives expression to the attainment of the overman. He recognises that only the few are able to overcome the difficulties inherent in loving ones fate entirely in this manner. The extent to which we are able to do this depends on our individual psyche and the multiple drivers that make up our complex minds. Another aspect to perceiving how it works in practice is it would be to live ones life in the absence of any regrets.

It first appears in the Gay Science and also in ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra” –his philosophical fictional novel based on the great Persian prophet.

But firstly to recap. You will recall I talked about how Nietzsche's health was always a continuing problem all of his life and resulted in his resignation aged only 34, in June, 1879, from his tenure as Professor, at Basil University, due to worsening migraine headaches, eyesight problems, depression and severe stomach complaints. He was granted a modest pension, which was to be the mainstay of his income for the rest of his life, supplemented by gifts from friends.

In an attempt to give himself more free working days to be in fit state to complete his work he subsequently spent the summers in the Swiss Alps and the winters along the coast in Italy staying in rented cheap rooming houses.   

He began writing about the subject in 1881, which no doubt was the result of many years of prior dark questioning which gave  rise to his joyful conclusion in “The Gay Science” where it is first mentioned.    

The concept behind the idea first came to him whilst walking along the woods in Switzerland. The concept went something like this: the sum total of energy in the universe is determinate and not infinite, so that the number of positional changes and combinations must also be finite, whereas the Universes exercisement of its energy is infinite. So that whether forwards and backwards in a never ending circle, everything has already been in existence innumerable times. Put another way it proposes the universe and existence, driven by a finite energy is represented in a reoccurring circle. Of course at that time scientists believed in a steady state universe, so that today there are many objections to his ideas. Nietzsche never published any scientific papers on his concept and we need not concern ourselves with the modern day more viable alternatives.   

One partial analogy in explaining what he means concerns the waterways or our water and the finite matter of those rivers whose individual molecules flow out to the sea and return to the sky with evaporation. That in turn forms the rain in far off distant lands so that those molecules will eventually return from whence they came in a never ending cycle.      

So we need not become embroiled in his initial concept which distracts us from the idea he sets out, which in a nutshell invokes a new form of immortality attributable to humanity. This idea, as a form of re incarnation is not new and Nietzsche had studied such ancient ideas as they related to Persia and India. But his concept has a few novel twists to it. According to Nietzsche our present life existence represents a tremendous quality (divine) of which nothing is trivial as there is no aspect that is unimportant.

Nietzsche was uneasy in his attitudes to science but favourably disposed to what was then described as the new science of psychology – so it became the tool he used to rescue the world from nihilism. To Nietzsche that becomes the healing balm to suffering.     

So that if one is to live one's life fully one does so on the basis that one would wish to live it all over again and again.

His concept first appeared in the Gay Science under aphorism 341 which I have listed below. What if a demon crept after you into your loneliest loneliness some day or night, and said to you: "This life, as you live it at present, and have lived it, you must live it once more, and also innumerable times; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and every sigh, and all the unspeakably small and great in thy life must come to you again, and all in the same series and sequence - and similarly this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and similarly this moment, and I myself. The eternal sand-glass of existence will ever be turned once more, and you with it, you speck of dust!" - Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth, and curse the demon that so spoke?

Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment in which you would answer him: "You are a God, and never did I hear anything so divine!"

To reiterate this might be reasonably regarded as a sort of thought experiment as in the affirmative answer introduces the idea of a spiritual heath that carries with it a transformative power to stoically embrace his life. Nietzsche sees the human psyche as the living history of all that has happened before it and from which the enquirer can intuitively become the overman or superman as depicted by Zarathustra. To recap on my earlier narrative, but now with this added information, one might understand how Nietzsche perceived that a person capable of accepting recurrence in the absence of self-deception or evasion is one who becomes the overman or superhuman being (Übermensch).  His philosophy might also be described in terms of a psycho/spiritual amalgam as he talks about the multiple drivers of the soul- a reference back to platonic (Philosophy of Plato) influences.

There remains some debate however as to the character traits defining this overman as one who embraces eternal recurrence.

Let me digress slightly as I think it is worthwhile to examine briefly what attributes he most admired in terms of the virtues which are listed by scholars Solomon and Higgins on pages 178-179 in “What Nietzsche Really Said”

In Daybreak:

Honesty – to ourselves and whoever else is friend to us.

Courage- towards the enemy,

Generosity – towards the defeated as in mercy

Polite- always.

In Beyond Good and Evil

Courage

Insight

Sympathy

Solitude

We need not be surprised, as we also find elsewhere, that Nietzsche is not consistent in his views. That trait continues as his purpose is to prompt one into self-analysis rather than to be overly definitive as to what virtues must be considered ideal.  A much more comprehensive list evolves on pages 181, taking into consideration later references with an ensuing explanation of each for those interested in a more fulsome explanation.

Aestheticism, Courage, Depth, Egoism, Exuberance, Fatalism, ‘The Feminine”, Friendship, Generosity, Hardness, Honesty, Integrity, Justice, Playfulness, Presence, Pride, Responsibility, Solitude, Strength, Style, Temperance. 

But clearly Nietzsche wants to avoid becoming overly prescriptive as he is critical of prior philosophers. Put another way people will have more affinity to certain traits and virtues to become who you are. Rather than laying down specific virtues that are universally acceptable, (an approach he detests) he seeks to point to the overarching role of humanity in terms of the need for introspection. That is to become who you are from the lessons of history that lie deep within your psyche and allow one to achieve excellence and a higher morality that is beyond good and evil.  What sort of meditative or thought process Nietzsche has in mind is not clear, but he leaves us some clues which involve a brutal quest for the truth about oneself and the instinctiveness that allows for intuitive style thinking which I have talked about in the first paper.   

His fierce anti-Christian stance for instance was in respect to the unhealthy actions he saw as injurious to ones spiritual health that he rallied against, whilst still retaining many of the attributes of his Lutheran tradition. He admired the early Christians but saw the church becoming corrupted, decadent - consumed by power, cruel, having a loathing for the body etc. to exercise control over the masses, to stifle the inherent divine attributes of humanity. They have become enslaved under the yoke of its other world doctrine.

So, let us assume, for the purpose of this discussion that there is also a metaphysical concept, additional to the thought experiment in the Gay Science in “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. , Assuming that is correct, Zarathustra wants to explain to his onlookers its meaning by way of this parable, extracted from the novel:                       

Behold this gateway it has 2 aspects, 2 paths comes together here and no one has ever reached their end. This long lane behind us goes on for an eternity, and the long lane ahead of us that is another eternity. They are in opposition to one another, these paths, they abut one another and it is here at this gateway that they come together. The name of the gateway, “Moment” is written above it. Behold this moment from this gateway moment a long eternal lane runs back and eternity, lies behind us. But must all things that can run have already run along this lane. But must all things that can happen are already happened - been done, run past. For all things that can run must also run once again forward along this long lane. This slow spider that creeps along in the moonlight and is moonlight itself and I and you at this gateway whispering together. Whispering of eternal things, must we, not all, have been here before, and must we not return and run down the other lane not before us, down that long terrible lane. Must we not return eternally? 

Rather obviously the parable speaks to us in a familiar tone as in Déjà vu – but what are we to make of it?  

We don't know for sure if Nietzsche really intended the idea of the eternal recurrence as a serious Metaphysical theory, as most favour the idea he is only proposing a thought experiment.

But to reiterate on my prior idea of not having any regrets what now is clear, to take his concept seriously, one would never harbour regrets as you will endlessly repeat those regrets to allow that form of misery to impose its negativity on your life. 

For the destructive idea of dwelling on regrets can be avoided if one sees meaning in those choices - however badly those choices turned out to be. On a more practical note maybe the mistakes made in one’s youth become corrected in ongoing maturity to give meaning to existence.  

I don't think the parable was meant to be taken literally, but rather serves to underpin Nietzsche's conviction that all other world theories are of human construct and the only true world is the one we inhabit, through endless circulating different pathways that repeat, stretching out to infinity. Notice also that Nietzsche talks about the intersection to different pathways.  There is an inherent ambiguity element to this as it is not clear how this fits in with self-realisation, which implies a kind of freedom.   

He prided himself as the first Philosopher who was also a psychologist and maybe that’s how we can best interpret his work. Live Life as if you always have that choice to live heroically even though you don’t, as in the joy in finding power in seeing meaning in everything we do.          

Conclusion and discussion

The narrative provides plenty of room for discussions- whether or not you believe he intended it as a doctrine of sorts or more as a psychological test to measure you spiritual health?

Another question might be: could a secular humanist tied to serving humanity, aimed at doing so in the best way possible, find meaning and fulfilment in the absence of any such beliefs?

How do we retain our values and what do we believe might be the so called transvalues for the superman? 

Is there a danger such a thought experiment would render life meaningless?  To what extent could a Buddhist or theist or other religious faith or anyone guided by a positive ethical cause adopt all the principles of living life to the fullest but need not hold such a view.

What life lessons does Nietzsche hold for us and to what extent has idea of Eternal recurrence permeated our thinking today?         

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