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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