Nietzsche’s doctrine dedicated to the topic of eternal recurrence is considered to be one of the least clarified concepts in his works. The philosopher claimed that the initial idea of eternal recurrence emerged in 1881 during his journey in Switzerland (Nietzsche & Hoover 14). Nietzsche claimed that eternal recurrence is a valid scientific hypothesis, which states that every process in this world recurs constantly in the certain period of time. According to this notion, time is infinite and change is eternal (Nietzsche & Hoover 28). Also, eternal recurrence suggests that energy is always constant and finite, so as its numerous states. At the same time, energy has infinite duration (Nietzsche, 36). It is possible to claim that only one statement that concerns the constancy of energy is nowadays considered to be the Law of Thermodynamics, the other postulates refers to metaphysics. It has been said that eternity was the only feature of traditional religion that Nietzsche retained in his system.
There are different interpretations of the eternal recurrence, where the Nietzsche’s followers divided themselves into two schools, namely the correspondence and perspectival interpretation. The first school connected the concept to the cosmological theory, the others insisted on mythological interpretation of eternal recurrence. Anderson, who supported cosmological framework, and emphasized that, “Nietzsche’s thought experiment then invites the person to consider the endless recurrence of that life, with every detail the same” (Anderson 197).
At the same time, the scholar did not entirely agree with Nietzsche in terms of recurrence of thought. Anderson insisted that it is impossible to refer to certain judgment as objective if it is made on the basis of eternal recurrence (Anderson 197). According to such interpretation, the ideas produced by individual will not be effective or useful if they are constantly recurring. This process will mean that humanity does not progress, but exists in the constant recurrence always repeating the milestones it has already undergone.
It is possible to admit that the idea of eternal recurrence and its interpretations may be quite ambivalent and problematic. At the same time, Nietzsche’s thought put individual’s life in the future claiming that there are no such things as underworld or heaven. Consequently, the philosopher fosters the self-evaluation and allows a thought permitting all values that drive the humanity to exist (Anderson 198). This concept was opposed to Christian perception of the world and made Nietzsche to stand out among his peers. For Nietzsche eternal recurrence was “the closest approximation of a world of becoming to a world of being” (Nietzsche 10). It means that despite the fact that all processes in the world tend to change, they are also recurring, which makes the fact of change less frightening to people. This statement also disrupts the religious concept of the permanent state of all processes and life in general.
At the same time, Anderson expressed the list of complaints regarding the eternal recurrence, one of which referred to the possibility of acceptance of individual’s reaction recurrence “as a significant or correct judgment on the value of her life” (Anderson 198). The researcher opposes to Nietzsche’s ideas regarding moral value and inconsistency of recurrence to its constraints. For instance, according to the notion of eternal recurrence, individual might enjoy life and the lifestyle he/she chooses and it can be considered good even if the lifestyle interferes with the life of others. This concept is multifaceted and apparently that Nietzsche refers to the ideas of relativity, where the value of all processes can be considered bad or good regarding to the viewpoint. Therefore, Nietzsche implied that the ideas of morality are deeply corrupted, thus, recurrence provides the ideas certain features, but no judgment. Overall, the philosopher appeals to the notion that life can be considered good in general, but it is normal for a person to be morally conflicted throughout life. In general, Nietzsche did not think that life could be good only if a person lived according to moral rules.
At the same time, it is possible to see that philosopher’s concepts can have two interpretations and due to limited explanations presented by Nietzsche, the notion of eternal recurrence can be evaluated through different perspectives. Also, it is possible to apply the principles of recurrence framework to his concepts as well. As the doctrine of eternal recurrence claims that each process and life of a person is subjective, so as the thoughts produced by Nietzsche can be considered also subjective. Therefore, the idea of eternal recurrence may be or may be not applicable to all processes in life. Simultaneously, the concept of eternal recurrence is quite complex and the explanation of this notion cannot be made by a single interpretation.
At the same time, people tend to believe that life has a tendency to progress and develop. In this case, the concept of eternal recurrence can be a conundrum for such thinkers. It is quite difficult to use to the idea that new ideas and inventions derive from the similar processes and events that have already occurred before. Yet, it is important not to take the idea of recurrence literally. While Nietzsche insisted that eternal return presuppose the reiteration of events, it does not mean that humanity tends to regress. Once the philosopher said that he believes that even his idea on eternal recurrence may come to a mind of a different person after some period of time (Nietzsche 36). In this way, Nietzsche intended to demonstrate that the attainments of the civilization may root in the discoveries of the previous generations.
The phenomenon of eternal recurrence may be observed in everyday life as well. For example, each person may observe how his/her life is divided into the periods of highs and lows. There are moments in history when there is economic or political heyday which is followed by crisis. In science, there are a lot of examples when one idea comes to minds of different scholars throughout time. There are also phenomena that disprove such vision. For instance, the technological progress that brings tons of innovations that were never invented before points to the constant development of humanity.
At the same time, Nietzsche emphasized that it is important the events and processes to recur in a person’s life. Anderson interprets the philosophers thought by implying that “if the life whose recurrence I affirm omits some events that really happened to me, then my managing the affirmation is by no means sufficient to establish the kind of harmony between my life and values that Nietzsche intends to emphasize” (Anderson 199). To Nietzsche, the harmony in life is connected to affirmation of values and if individual omits them as well as the sequence in which they occur, the life will lack essential value.
However, it is quite normal for a human to regret about certain events, processes, and situations that happened. In this case, the idea of eternal recurrence may help in overcoming frustration. If one agrees that the events tend to recur, in the second time it is possible to act in different manner in order to improve the situation. Despite the first impression about the eternal recurrence, it does not decrease value of person’s life, it improves it, according to Nietzsche (Nietzsche, 147). There is a practical effect of thought experiment regarding eternal return. For Anderson, “recurrence is supposed to place ‘the greatest weight’ on events in our lives, and ‘change’ us” (Anderson 202). For instance, a person wishes a problem to go away as quickly as possible usually by forgetting it. However, the fact of forgetting a crisis does not mean it is resolved. In this way, the recurrence of the same problematic event pushes a person to resolve or rethink it in order to progress. It is possible to claim that Nietzsche was a progressive thinker, as only several decades after his death, the psychology will come to the same conclusions. It demonstrates again the paradigm of eternal return as well.
While eternal recurrence may seem to be an obstacle for the development, it otherwise serves as a catalyst of progress. The evaluation of life in general and its processes emphasizes the similarities of milestones humanity underwent. There were the times of regression, like Middle Ages, and the period of Renaissance that came right after. Life of individual contains the periods of regret and happiness by following each other in circles. As some experts consider eternal return as a simplification of the complex processes, it is important to remember that, as each philosophical concept, it has to be used wisely and applied accordingly. It was mentioned earlier that one of the notions provided by Nietzsche has become a scientific theory, the others are supported nowadays by metaphysics. In this way, the philosopher showed that the events do recur in life and become accepted when people are ready for them.
At the same time, recurrence presupposes self-evaluation and genuine reflection on the events that happened in order to improve the future. While Nietzsche does not speak about progress and development, it is possible to suggest it on the basis of context. For Anderson, “the thought of an event’s recurrence not only forces a serious recognition of its relevance to the value of my life, but also opens the possibility of my taking a specific new attitude toward it” (Anderson 200). Recurrence is the driver for recognition of life’s value, it does not mean that recurring event prevents the new processes from happening. It can be quite conflicting to see the difference between the literal meaning of recurrence and its philosophical notion. Nevertheless, the conclusion drawn from the analysis of eternal recurrence emphasizes the correctness of Nietzsche’s statements regarding life and its processes.
Works Cited
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future. Ed. Rolf-Peter Horstmann and Judith Norman. Trans. Judith Norman. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2002.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None. Trans. Thomas Wayne. New York: Algora, 2003. Questia. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, and A. J. Hoover. Friedrich Nietzsche: His Life and Thought. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994.
Anderson Robert L. “Eternal Recurrence and the Value of Life”. European Journal of Philosophy 13.2 (2005): 185-225.
