heidegger's metahistory of philosophy

7/23/2019 Heidegger's Metahistory of Philosophy

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HElDEGGER'S

MEHISORY O

PHILOSOPHY:

B d

b

GS

MRTNU NHOFF THE HUE


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HEIDGGER'S METAHISTORY

OF PILOSOPHY:Amor Fa, Beng nd Tuh

y

BERND MAGNUS

MARTINS NIJHOFF I THE HAG I 9 7 0


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97 by Martinus Nhof The Hague, NeherlandsA rights reserved incuding the right to translate or to

reproduce his book or parts heeof in an form

SN 90 47 505 0

PNTED N TH NETHLNS


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F Dah; as th ats that ay att


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ABL OF CONN

INTRODUCTON X

PAR : PLOOPY O RNAL RCRRNC

C : Nietzsche's Lteray state 3HAPER Cosmologica and Logica Dimensions of the

Doctrie of ternl ecurrence 9HAPER Nietzsches xstential mperatve 27

PAR DGGR MAORY O PLOOPY

C edegger and the raditon 59HAPER Nietzsche as Metaphysica 96C eideggers Nietsche i Ctca Perspectv 29

BBLOGRAPY 142

DX46


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INTRODUCTON

Ma Heidegger's fame nd nfuence re bed, for the most part

on hs frs work eng and Tme That s ws o hve ben he firshf of lrger oume project e second haf o whch ws

nee cmpeed is we nown. Th Heideggers subsequen wringshe been conuous deveopments of ha prject n some sense is

generay acknowedged hough ere s cnsderable disaement

conceng the manner in whch hs er works snd eaed o eng

and Tme. Hedegger scors are deepy dvded oer questionSom mnain here is shrp ematc cege n Heidegger'shou, so h he aer works eier reute or a best bd he

eier emes Ohers man h even o spek of shi or a"ers in Heidegger's hnking is misen and gue n conseuece a h kng deveos entrey consiseny. Lsy herere hose who dmi a shf in emhss and hemes n hs works bu

nouce principle of cmpemenr - the shif is said to repre

n oc deelopmn o h hking oo ofen e groups re

be ed cs

I do o wi o dd moe fue o e fire by hoosig sdes in h

dispue o te wha h fin erdc sh , ere ee shbe one regrding e nuy or dsconnty of Hidegges

hou i is cear h he er woks so need o be expced deaute on ther own mes no oy eng and Tme. Athou a

few exceen studes of Heideggers ough have appered i Enishin he s decde, they tend to focus on eng ad Tme d secondarly on the reatonsh of he aer works o i To my knowedge

only one book has appeared odate n Ensh which res an specof Hedegger's understandng o e hstory of philosophy and not ase cca study. Ths book endeavos o ben to remedy a

decincy


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X INTRODUCON

It i not the ce that Heideggers undertanding of the hitoy ofphoophy i merely a theme in hi works. It i the hme of hi laterwork n my view If Being and Time i corectly charactezed a ahenomenologcal decripon of Dasein, of he human way of being

en Heideggr' subequen works, th main ampt to how

how the qution o Bein (Sein) ha been (m)undertood omPlato to Nizche Preumbl the adiion alre o ap

human way of being is ounded n it mor fundamental faur to

arcate clealy ene of Bng, "to b n geneal. I is no

accidenal, n hort th e projeced econd volume o Beng and

ime wa o te a it subjt-maer a recapiation and uco

o e ory of tolo1

This boo thn, i no ntne a tl other noduction o thephloophy of Mart Heidegger It i a critical anyi an expoi

tion of econd has o ou

Heidegger provocaive trtatins of e prSocrac phohers Plato Arito Decat Kant, Hegel, and Netzche are

all cnditone by his nquy to the meanng of Being ha inqur

determine the characer o i hstorc tdie And ou erehave ben rquet umblgs abou te validty of such an ap

proach no usta ffor have thto been mad to come o ipw th modolocal queon which Heidegger hermneutcca ion

I do not w to uggt ts sud cover e fu range oproblems rae by eidegger metitorcal ntepeaton of the

story of pooph I oe not I hve ben forced to circumcrbete rag of ais vey harply Nitzche th cener of vity

pot o focu and, fnaly e ouchtone for Heeger intepreaons n s dy A nuber o conidraton dctated hi choice.

Fr Hidegger has dote more attenion o Nietzche n he hao al oe phooher combned Hi nteprton of Niezche a

latahysic o Ws hep to account for the nordiate

amount of mr Hidegger h produced conceng Niecheecon as consequnce o t rs we hav ore aequa bior judng e vue o degger pproach t Nitzche. Thrd

i m opnion ha Nezche phoophy i ereny more usptibl of coicg ntepreos n , say Ka or Arto

Sein und Zet. Tibngen: 7. Auf, 195 3 Cf. Introductio.


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NRUCON X

Raer han servg s deerrent expicang and ccly assessng Heidegger's inerpreon of Nieche, I found is o be anasset. It forces one o me fficut decsins and o be pnskingy

creful n dvcng an nerpreio of Niezsche raer hn merely passng on acceped eged "sandd inereons A e

se me i frds he reader a pon of reference fom wich o

compare mehods of istoric-ex criicism.

Nowhere re e mhodoloc prolems of neeon moreacue and more visible han n e case of Niezsches docne of

ee recrrence We are no deg wih a heoy wose meaning

is cle s it is comoy supposed. Some of he most elemenary

elemens of e docrne re dispued Ahou Niezsce regded

e docrine of eeal recurrence as s most mporan concep conictng nerpreans s preva. Hence bfore Heidegger's ner

pretaion c be men assessed an effor soud be me onerpre e doce n e lit of he exts nd of previous nter

preations. The first pr of his study consists erefore of an a

empted reconson of he el recurrence eory The resul ofis aemped reconction is he convicin a excessive empa

sis has ho en plced on the cosmoocl proof for el

ecrrnce to te dement of e xioloc dimension whichNietzsche explored in is bshed works Ahough sc an inerpreti is no necessary rreconcable wih e more penerg

Nietzsche dies i does suggest funden change in emphsis;a chge in the dee of imporance we are o atach o he prescripve as pposed o he empcal elemens of e docrine.

Heidegger's own nreaion of Nietzsche raises obvious ddition dfficues. It is guided by no cnvenon sndrds of criical

scholrship For example Heidegger views he docne of eenl

uence as e ls mehysical ough in he Wese radionte culminaion d compleion of meaphysics a ougt which is

fed o pear whn i does as Niezsches rsponse to he clam of

e Beng (Sin) of beings (Sindn) Clealy we re deg here wiho ordny nerpreation Heideggers nerpreaon is propelled byan er necessiy of his own hnking wic pursues e mening ofBeng. The norhodox crcer of Heideggers pproac as beensccincy expressed by Wiam Richrdson as endeavorng to com

prehed and express no wha oher ther o/said b wh


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I NRODUCION

he did o thk/say od ot thik/say ad why he od ot/say i"2

Heideggers ierpretatio aot be evaluaed meully the

er mrely havg larfied Nietzshes de of eeal reur-re A rital uderstadig mus e e ae of Heideggers

approah o aot o merely he rests of s approahSpefialy te first part of s stdy


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NTROUCON XI

denotes Bein as xistntia The doe of eteal eene s tolbeate pevous eeton the hstoy of etaphyss fo aveson

to e and tansene od to Hedee It s poited out in

ts that the textal evdene whh Hedee pesents s nadeuate to susta suh a vew Revene deveane fo whh

s vewed as a neessay ondon fo lbeaon fo aveson toansene not exlusvely a etaphys onept as Hedeeassets no s the te "wi an ontolo ept i the pssaesfo wh he uotes The tes evene d wil funton as

psyholoal onepts the omplt passaes fo whh Hedee uotes as the bass fo hs nteatons

Chapte III suests at Hedees eatent of etzshe the

last etaphan of the West plaes a buden e theoy ofet eene whh that dotne not esily be It s a oot

pot to tend s Hedee does at etzshe w opeled tonk Bein unde the se of eteal uene But ths a priori

ontextnto whh Hedee fts etzshe has seious onseuenes

Fst


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XV NRODCON

trinae approach s rnous to the hstory of phiosohy s a discplne, nd s foregn to Hedegger's own hinkng as wl.

The nslans of Hedegger and Ntzsche ae my own Wheethese appear ovey lter, I have ways had some pupose n mn.

More ofen thn not, e more lteral e aslon e more epassage n queston s in dspute. I hve retned he or Gem

througout n footnotes, n any case to enabe the reade to comparethe slons wh e org ose who ack Geman can compare my raslatons w oes - whee hese are avlabe

he lst of hose to wo I ndebted s excessvely long Motpromnenty hoever atef to Hn Arendt d Jcobaubes for e hep and encourgement when I needed t mostAlbe Hofstater for hs hepful crtca reang of eale drtof ths muscrpt; P Kstee d Rch Ks, fo hergeneos eang of parts of ts uscrpt he Uvesty of Ca

foa, Rvese for i supporn ats to complete s voumeLy an ost espely I wat to Arthur Dto for scont encoagement suppo, generosy of sp


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PA

THE PHIOSOPHY OF ETERA RECURRECE


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C H E R

NIETZSCHE'S LTERARY ESTATE

Nietsches wod-view has ben ced "a system in aphorims owever, general aement to he nature of ths syste oes not

exist, due pay to e aphosc gere itsef. In fact, nanty as to

wher Nitzsche did n fact have a syste does ot exst either2 nconsequece, he meang and impoce atbted to the majorthemes wihi Niezches eged system ovean evuaon ofvus, the wiltower, e ete recuence have ben e sbjct of spirte and poonged deate

If Nietzsches aphosc stye, wih its fequent conadictoryconnt has been pry respsbe for the diversy o nterpretaons, en the cooversy surrounng te frst dion o i colected oks has ben an eqa sorce of confuin

The rst comete edit of Netzsches works e esamtausabe n rossokta was comied ovr a e exceeng try

yea3 Pio t the osaut of sani i Janary 889 Niechehd ometd four woks which wee nt pued at t teee of e four woks The Twht of the dos The nthrst

and Netshe ontra Waner were copoated to he cected

1 Kl Lwith Nesches Phosohe e egn Weekeh es G/ecenSttgat Kohlhammer 1956 p 15

Karl Schechta ed Fech Nezsche Weke n e nen MnhenHanser 1960 Nahwort p. 1 436 : Niesche hat kei Sysem

3 e first edition of Niesches colleed works was begun in 1 89 4 andompleted i 1901 in fifteen volmes he ast and complete edition of eGossokaausgabe ws pruced in 1 96 he firs ditio conventionlyaed the Naumann edition of the Gossokaausgabe he cond the Krneredition. Since the pages of both editions vitully oincide o distintion wilbe draw in refeing to the voumes he Gossokaausgabe itself wil befrred to eeafter simply the OA.

OA V D Genmmeng pp. 5918. O V De Ach pp. 1333.

6 OA V Nesche coa Wagne pp. 831.


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4 HE PHO SOPH O F EERA RECRRECE

works 85, whh hen brougt the Nezshe edon to a tot ofeght voumes For a onsderable perod these eght volumes weethout of onsttug al the wors publshed by Netzshe durnghs lfete or desgnaed by hm or pubaton he frst edton

of hs "autoboaph omo the four book wrtten byNezshe 888, dd not appear prt unl wenty yeas hadlapsed, 08 and w orporated nto the GOA sll later s a ptof voume XV By the GOA onssted of a tot of sxteen uneven volumes voues V onssng o Netzshe's publshedworks volues XXV ontang Nezshes unpubshed notesVoe XV had appeed n e ye ter Netshe's deathand seven yes before e pubaton of omo ntanng

some fou hudred notes unde e te Th W-to-Powr In 04,just three yeas later a ompetey new edton of Th WtoPowrwas promoted by e appeare of an addon two hunded notesfrom Th WtoPowr n E osterNezshe's Da Lbn Frdrh Nths Subsequent edto enged the onovers ThWtoPow to 07 enes9 By 2 e GOA had rehedweny oes se he Kne edon ough the on ofr oes of Phoo (XX) and ndex )-1hs wey voue oeon has seved as the st omplete edonnd the soue o onsderable dspute

he st et voues of e GOA, en, ontn boks pubhby Nehe dug hs produtve peod, as we as books desgnated by for publaon whh were not reesed un hs apseto madess. Voues XXV on he oe hand, osst of wrt nee publshed by Nehe nor desated for publaonwth e exepton of omo hs Nahas onsss of hetegeneous mater mater whh tou wtten dug e au

or's leme, was not nooratd to the publhed works, on teone hand and matea potdang Nethes ast omplet workon e oe hd

Rather han servng as a bass for e laraon of Nezshes

O Nacha XV De We Z Mach. iabeh FreNezhe Da ebn Ferch Nech zig C

. Naa 1949 O Naha X . 13489 XV.

O ge an XX. ead b Rchard Ohe.1 O cha XV 1136.


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N E S C ES E R R E S E 5

positin he heteogeneity of GOA fequeny oom as a seveeobtac on th ay to undistoed ierpetaon If he vey exis

tnc of e Nls ha bequahed pobem to Niche schoa

hich ae at eat esovabe n pipe te me i hich the

iteay emain gatheed ogaized ad edited ha givn ieto upicions hih pemanent eatn he posibiity of age

entWithout extniv detail it hod be noted that e methd com

ptence ad chaate of e ahitct f h GOA Elisabth FtNietzsche hae been chnged notaby by Wate Kauf

mn nd Ka Shehta3 Ka Scechta's hee vume editon

of Nietzsches colected k 1 onta but ne-hird he numbe of

nie fom th pubished note tha are found the OAthe no attmpt i made to ystmatz the nte of theightie" 15 into coheent abeit povision paned orks In hi

phiogic PtScipt and Epiogu" Schechta ppie

uggti dntation uppot of he esi that Nietzche hadabandoned pas fo a magnum opus ned Will-to-Powr

and that muh of the mateia appaing de t tie conits of

gue-ok bodeg ot infqunty on fogey. In addon to

cting petty fgees e for of ttmoni to Nietzch sitesphosophic and intv abiities Shehta diues t cn

ideab dicie invoved ng Nizsche' notes SinceNitzche ote much of h m hi kig omme in ab

bviaon of h on caon hi difficut hdng had becom

pacticy iegibe toard the nd of pduti peod The task

12 Nezsche (eo: eo e e 1950) The Nezheeged

13 Nezhe Werke n dre Bnden (he Hae 1960)14 bd.15 bd ol 3 41-92716 bd. o. 3 1383-32.7 bd. o. 3 1433144 Tha Nezhe had abadoed l o The WllPwer ha beom

a ommolae e ublzd b ale . Kauma h Nescheeo eo e e, 190). The Msarnasgabe o Nezhe olleed wo oa oer wee la o he dued he WllPwer XV 336) a well a dao ha Nezhe ededo wre a maor wo eled Revalan all ales ad whoe

ar wa o hae bee he alead ublhe he Anchs. . Msanasgabe XV 347 ad X 39002)


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6 H E H L O S O H O E E R N R E CU R R E N C E

of decipherg Nietzsche's jottings was assied to Peter Gast by

Eisabth FrsterNietzsche. Stysc chge were frequeny inoduced, Schleca clams words or pases changed or added, arbi

trary plans foowed from among mny possible ones. in aSchlechta calls he Will-to-Power a Machwerk prodcd largely bye eed and power over Nietzches iterary estate wich Elisabeth

rsterNiezsche possesed.

Wheer Karl Schlechtas ndicment is accurate or not caot be

consively resolved by Nietzsche scholars, even ose who have

ready access to the Nietzsche archives His claims do help foster a

greater sesitivity however to e two centr probles posed by the

Nachlass Fst despite e references to and possible clarifictonsof the major probles with which Niezsche dealt how faithfl a

record of his random otes do we find e pblshed GOA Nach

lass? I hort, how accurate is e Nachlass? Second how mch

weight shold be given t e references n e Nachlass in iterpreting

Nietzches phlosophic position? The secod question is locay

and meodologicay distnct from e fst; even we settled the first

qeso precisely because it s e iteray remans wch we e

considerg The second qestion is of considerable impotance not

oy when considering Nietsches disputed "plned work(s) butwhen considerig enies which Nietzsche choe not to icororate

into his pblished works, for reasons uknon to us.

It is foate at a sbstant nmber of references to he doc

trne of ete recurence exist n Nietzche's bshed works Ifone were tart from e pblshed works the portance attached

to passage n e literay remains is dimnished. Noetheess e

nmber of distt references to the docine of ete reurrece

found the Nachlass is more than four tmes greater9 than references found in the pubshed works20 Ad it of soe porce

to obseve in hs connection that nowhere i e works pblished by

Nietzsche or desinated for pblication by im i ere ttempt

made to present e dne of ete recrrece expliitly in terof epiricalcosmolocal hyoesis

1 ere are more an forfor in ion ealn wi e eenaerrene e GOA Nachas.

0 GOA I-VIII. Approxmaely en uneen eon eal niay wi eone o eel reurene ei en vare enormouly.


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N E S H ES E R A R E S A E 7

This ot has a siicant bearing uon the thesis presented in thefolowng chapters The poition sha deveo mtans, in spesterms tat he doctrne of eter recence was conceived by Nietz-

sche rrly as an existen docne, which shal cl an exitentia ierative, for whih he subsequeny (d nsuccessfully) sought

emical justification The relevant issues feg ts interetationcn be exhibited somewhat more lealy e interretive probem isstated within the genera context of the facvaue spit

Almost al Nietzsche scholrs agee hat the doctine of eteecrence advances e view that n fact, eveying eternally recs,ad at we out behave as if it does. ely, e fst part is a

desitive hyothesis, e second is rescriive presentingNietzsche's position, howeve revios shos have generaly em

hed e descripve hypoeses and have tended to assimate the

rescritive to it Although both emprical and noatve elementsare reset, the osition for which rge below is that the revng

emphas out to b reversd The em hyohesis should beassimiated to, and understood as occasioned by the rescritive dimensio of e die of etea recurrence The prncia textuaeasn for suggestng this chnge n emhas is at Nietche eeted

to ubish the noncosmoog agments we, at h sam tmwiodng te emc formuatio A complement reason forsuggestg this rocedre is at e npublished emc gments

are no ess mbigos and subject to ntepretaon, n my udgment,an e te ncosmologica fouations Te mology adved en, taes e pubished osition as the ncip soce ofevidence d te Naass as an d to carifyng at ostion A-

thou no adaly new nteretaon w emerge as a consequence

of this meth, he reversa w bring oher docna eements ntosher reief. Specicly, the dotne o ete ecurrence w be

seen as a critique nd aternative to metahysics, Chrstianty, adhilism as Nietzsche conceived them. oreove, is w be viewed

as the cenal task of the doe, rather thn an interesg sideeffect

It may b necessy to repeat at he methodology adoted ande iteretaon which it sggests do no ecessary nllfy reva-ing iteretatons. Bt they do chge the points of emphasis in a

fndamental way. qaly cery his nteretation is not desidto elimate any rea aleged incsistencies in Niezsches docrine


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8 E L O O P O F E E R N A R E R R E N E

of etern reurrene. t doe ugget oever tat iete ave to mot of te prma ace inonenie rt mto ave found and at pite of t e regarded te dotre a i

mot ignifat onept Moreover t ae a man oter tink te judgment a uperior to at of rti


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C E R

COSMOLOGICAL AND LOGICAL DIMENSIONS

OF THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL RECURRENCE

Ecce omo wic Ntc mbuuly rwd plpic dlpmnt t ii f dctr f trnal rcurrnc

citd: ccpt f tal rcurrnc bl Aut f tyar 88. Jt wa writtn n a pa wit cripti '000 ft

byd ma ad ti. wt ru t frt at lak f Silaplaa tat day r t ut cam t m 1

Nt ly r diarmt a t t ma f ida; mNtc clar a rtd t nt cncpt r a a rl

u xprc paqu t plc aalyi wr l aa dcply mck mytry f dlun 3 wlmn

dc dcat cay t Ntc rardd t dc f t rcurrc a i mt ficant cncpt 4 Nitc

rdd dci a "t mt cinfic f pibl ypt-, 5 ad Zaautra a it prp " w rlat t try fZarautra baic ccp f i wrk ) the eenal ecuence notion

r pp f y w ca cndr t dcin f trna

1 GOA XV Ecce Hm De Ewe Weekunftseanke eh in enAuust es Jahes 11 e st auf ein Ba hnewofen mt e neh6000 u jenseis von Menh un Zei. Ih in an jenem ae am See vonSivapana uh e We . . . a k m iese Geke

Ae Baeume Nezsche der hlsph nd lker (epz Ream1931

3 Est Beam Nesche: ersch ener Myhlge (Ben Geo Bon19 1 p. 12

4 C. GOA VI 32; GOA Nachlass XII 371 XIII 264 41 XV 6 12 XV39.

5 GOA Nachlass XV 12 "De Wssenshafhse ae mihen ypohesen

6 GOA XV Ecce Hm, 5 "h ehle nunmeh ie Gehihte es Zahusta. Die Gunoneption es Wekes e EwieWieeknfsGeke . .


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10 H E H O S O H O E E R N R E C U R R E N C E

recurrenc from two poit of vantage: e emprica and e axioogica I e fa anayis 'i ditction i either generc or is iitended to be ery rigorou. The decriptive verion for exampe, is

frequety refrred to beow as eie "empirica, cosmoogica ordecrptive T aiooca omeme caed e tica opostat O e or ad e ters ar not mutuay excusive ter If for exampe, e cosmo cosis of a fnit umberof nery coniuratio wic recu teay, and if uma actionare cnceived by Nietzsche as a part of ay ven configraio tenuma actios too fated wi etea recrrece. Hre tecosmoo of docn impie a corespodg aioogy ad tdico btwee te wo utimatey oapse Coverey if u

m acto i our startg point, d it is cnceved uder te yoke ofta recurece impies a raer sict detemistic cem of

ae In ti cae axiooy wod impy a corespondg comoogy d t disico woud oce again timaty coap. Titwofod itcti trfor i vauab piiy in dfferentiatingte of ac Nie eny wc dea wit te dtrne oftea ue Thu, for examp we Nitsc assrt tae tak s to iv in uc a way at you mut wi to ie again 7

w wod regad t a aioogica etry Were o e oternd Nisce argus ntiry from mpiric coidration ie.

ft ergy pac matr ft m w oud regd uc nri as prmaiy cosmoogica/empirica Te interprtie questio,for u i to to ascertai f poi, wic empasis receie theeatst e nd wy - emca t axiooica

A was said fore of t wo dimnios to wic ti docrnebogs no sutained argumnt for e cosmoogca tau of etearecurc xit i any work pubied by Nitce or auoredfor pubicaio by him. Refrence to te empica requements ofte docne of te rec ence are found oy te Nachlass

Speciicy e wo ourc i wc e dotrne of etea recurrece i mitakaby prseted a n empirca ypotsi is the

ot from t peiod wic Nitce wrote he ay Scenceand in te diputed he Wll-o-Power Ti fact i otworty i

O aclas X 64 s leben a nhn m wieer zu

leben, e Aufgabe O aclass X 23! O acass XV XV


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C O S O O G I C A L A N D O G I C A D M E N O N 1 1

telf; fst, because Netzshe presened e dotne of eteal reur-rene n the publshed verson of The ay Scence n axooal and

not osmologal terms; seond, beause of the shroud of uertainty

suoundng the aua of the eferenes foud n The Wllo

Power Yet, the majoty of Netzshe sudes treat the osmoogalveron of the dne wth at east e se degree o emphass a

the axoog ntenton.

Te ssue here s not one of renderng a udent as to whether

Netzse ntended the smolog/ empa verson of e dotne

of etea reurrene to pay a vt oe n the carfaton of th

dffut noto We sh merey sess a to n wat folows

etween Netzshe' pubshed refeon oneg the tne of

ete reurrene an at veron e empa, wh he hose towd fom publaon

e tee ente n wh e eterna rerene s pesented a

osmoog ypohess ave been vosy terpreted Sne mu

of e osmoog argument epends on these ee foulaton

they are pesen ere:

Te mon of o energy s deermined, no infinie. Le s bewre ofsch concepu berrions! Consequeny he number of ses chnges

combinions nd deveopmens of his nergy is icredby rge ndprcicy unmesurbe bu noneheess deermned nd no nfinie.However ime, in which he oy exers is energy is nfne isenegy s eey equ nd eey cive Up o hs mmen n infiiy hs pssed ie. possbe deveopmens us redy hve come pss. Consequeny he presen devpmen mus be repeiion nd sohe ne whch br i nd he ne whch wi origine from i nd so on

orwrd nd bckwrd Everyhing s come o pss in so fr s he ocngurion f energy eerny recurs Wheher qie side from, nhng denic hs come pss is enirey idemonsrbe It

woud pper h he confgrion srcues ribes new n egrees dei, so wo dferen conigions cnno conin nyhing idenic Wheher nyhng denic cn exs wihin cngurion or expe wo eves- I dob . 10

10 GOA Nach/ass X 552: D Mas der AllKrat it betimmt, nichts'Unendches: hten wi un vo ochen Achweiungen des Begriff! Fogich ist de Zah de Lgen Verndeungen Cobinationen d Entwickungendeser Krft zw ungehe gross und practich unermeslich abe jdenflsbetimmt nd nicht unendich Woh abe st die Zet in der da A ine Kraft

bt nenich ds heiss die Kraft it ewig geich und ewg htg bis disenAuenblick it schon ene Unendlichkeit abgeaufen da het e mglichenntwickungen sen schon dgewesen in Folglh uss die augenbckliche


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C O S O L O G C A L A N D L O G I C A L D E N S O N S 3

Let us exract a t least the folowing broad assumptions for the doc

ne of etern recrrence as a cosmoloc hypothesis from theabove tree entres: Netzsche assumes that space s fiite, that energys finte and that time is finite.13 From these three assumptions tere

folows a four for Nezsche naely, that no termina state in ecnfiguration of ener has ever been reached14 Snce space and

energy re fte t foows for Netzsche at oy a fiite number of

confgrations ufold in an teity o me and that ny gven con

fgurations must n consequence occur eternally "the eteal recurrence of the same Moreover, he same confguraon not only wlrecur eternaly but actualy has occurred a fnite number of pre

vous times This oment thus s but one repetton of an nfnte

umber of denic moments in the "past and is fated to recureteay n he fuure

Artur Danto has made a cose sdy of he loc stus of Niezsche's assumptons n a recent book, and has reduced the premses n

he quoted first entry to ee 5 The sum tot of ener in theverse s fnite 2. he number of sttes of energy s fnte Eners conserved6 Since hese three proposis re logcly ndepen

dent, Dnto adds four more whch re needed to generate he sort ofrgment Niezsche has n mnd ". Tie s nite 5 Ener hasfnte dration Chge is eteal Prncple of Sffcint Reason 17 Whether any or al of tese addonal premses are explicitlycontaed in the entres is not at issue here, although wod appeartat prese number four is explicitly present in the materal from

whch Arthur Danto quotes "However time which the otalyexers its energy s infite8 Premise number five ay so be

present in embryoc form in he phre energy s etealy equal

and eteay acve Whether any or al of these premses are ex

plctly present in Netzsche's formulatons is of minor importance

oagtzt t di zuig icung d gicn Wur winicra di bout NiGcit"

3 GO Naclass X 51 Qution concing t paiiity o t uption wtin contxt o 19t or 20 cntu pc do not conc

u d wi conqunt b oittd ro dcon14 Ibd 555610 Art Dno N a lsr. (Nw Yok Mcan Co,

965)16 Ibd p 206

7 Ibd pp 207208 Ibd p 205


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1 4 H H O S O H O R N L R C R R N C

Of cp mptnce f us s e questn wete Netzscentene to pesen n unequvc gument fo dencal ecuencesn e bove qute enes. B nene we nt men D

ezsce wan o pesen n agumen f enc euencs?We men e ws Nezsce's pupse t fmute cnssen

empc ctne of ee ecuence n tese enes Te s

ce cssc fst en m not be e summn f cnsee

pstn tu vtu ezsce scos ve ken t t he pesentn n bss f te csmgc vesn f ete ecuence Te unctc mnne n wc tt fmu s been

juge t be an empc/csm agumen s ufune

Te cncusn f e fs en X Sl-52, s eceve neque entn Wete qute se fm t, nng enc

s cme pss s ente nemnsbe wu ppe t e

cfgutn sucues tbutes new te gees et s ttw ffeen coguons cnn n nng entc Wee nng enc c exs wn cnfgun f exmpetwo eves - ub t

Tese ee cnug sentences wc ve been unves

oe nee e s muc ttenn s o e peceng nes nm pn sce e menng s uce Te cnusn f en

X 5 cu nepte es w cmpbe ws ees cnsent cnssen w e emne f te en20 s

ague ese s ee sentences f en wen subjecte t

cefu textu ss expess tng ub but te equc

f te csmc/empc fmutn f te cne f eeecuence e tn conssen fun

Hvng gue t ene s fne tt te stes (Lagen cnges

evuns f eneg e kewse fne n t tese sttes unf n n een f tme etzsce ss: Eveng s cme tpass n s f s e t cnfgun f eneg ete e

crs 2 Te nex ee senences conssen w te peceng

nes wu en sse te fwng (1) Te sentence Wee

9 XI 552. I rteul to Arhur Dnto or poitin out o e ht the ls ree

lies ed ot e ed s icosiet with he preedi teil nd or su

est le o e which woud eliine the ppet corditio.t hould e dded s ht hs ue s preseted s y ow d th dieet oruos o i ih pehps e oe pesuie.

O Naa XII, 552.


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C O S O O G C N D O G C D E N S O N S 5

quite aside from hat, anythig identic h come to pass is entrey

ndemstrabe" wod mean simply that it is impossie to gveemprc evidence n suport of the eteal recrrence hypohesis.

The prase davon agesehen woud mean quite aside from thefact hat the o coigration of ener eteay recurs Inshort the senence cod easy e rendered Whether anythng

idenc has come to pass is entrely demonsable apart from the

fact that the tot cigration of a energy etey recurs Ths

interpretation wod be consstent wi e remainder of e eny

since the dtrne woud en a prorprecude the possity of find

g empric evidence as support Snce idenic recurrent word

states woud exst wthn coguratons evey tem of evdence none state woud have idenca counterat in every other word

state Stated differenty n e absence of dferenti emprica evi

dence we canot demonstrate the exstence of an earer dentca

world-state ecause the evidence requred s dentca wh each

wordstate An idetity of discebes thus hods wthn any con

figuration. The tust of itepretati woud terefore be directed exusivey at he mpossibty of gvng a roof any empirca

proofI shod add of the hyphesis (2) The nex sentence ('It

wod appear at e cofguraon structres attrutes anew n the

eatest detail so t two different configuraons cot conta

anythg identical) wod mean then that two dscreet wordstates

(A and B) do not possess an idenca conent snce hey e derent sce the cofigurato suctres atributes anew in e greatest

deta 3 The final sentence then merey assets that the same reapplies within a given configurati (A or B) that no identca ee

mens re to e fond within a sngle configuraon

A nterpretaton of this sor renders the entire quoted entry consstent It argues at Nezsche advancng hree ngs: frst the

demonsrabty of the eterna recurrence hypothesis by emprica

means (the indemonstrabity of the aeged fact that the exstence ofcofguratonA supports the existence of earler cofgraton A;

second the existence of more than one dscreet cofgraton (at east

A and B) i which eements are dfferentated d beween whichthere s no carryover; and thrd at withn any cofigraton (A or

B) ts content is suffcenty dversfed so as to precude denteswith eements of that cofguraon (for exampe wo eaves Ibd.


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1 H E H O O H O F E E R N A R E C R R E N C E

Such an nterpretatin hwever prma ace plausible must frst berelte t the text ad the terms it ntroduces Specficly what doese term Geamtlage (conigration) mean, and what is i relationshp t the term Lage (state) Des the term two dferent configurans refer to conigratios in the sense of disjuncts A r B?

The ter eamtlage is frst troduced n e sentence whichprecees te tree concludng sentences.23 It appears y in thesesentences It refers, specfically, to the ttal configratn of lener efre introducing the term, Nietzsche had spken of the

relatinship between tw rders of phenmena On the ne hand wehave Das Mass der AllKraft" (the ttal amunt of energy) and one ther hand we have he varus states (Lagen) changes (Vern

derungen) development (Entwcklungen) and cmbnations (ombnatonen) f this ener If the term Geamtlage refers t ether

order f phenmena which it clearl does, it refers to the fomer adt e later. That i, it refers to e geamte Lagen hence Geamtlage f ener e tt ensemble of states It wuld erefore, bemply crrect to assume at the term conigration (Geamtlage) ca be emplyed n the sae sense the term Lage (state) andit equivents The term oduces not a ven cnfigratn among

many (A or etc but the t enemble of ese states It i amacrocsmc ad ot a crs terT clarfy point, et cnceive f ree states (Lagen) of

energy each ne corresponding t an hstrical perod, A, and C.

To render each ne more grapcly, let A represent e perio frome dawn f human lfe :t the begs f recorded, writen, histry;let B represent the perod from recorded histry t e death f

Socrates let C represent the pero from 399 C. t Niezschesdscovery f he ete recurrence 8 8

Each phase A , C represents a Lage (tate) accrding to Nietz-sche.24 Nietzsche subsequently and consistently uses the term Zutand

23 bd.2 The identiication o A B C with states" athe tha coiraons

becoes oous when one eecs pon the act that states constitute soats o the Mass de AlKrat d ae thereoe theoetcay dsinushae. Whethe the tot ene o states" (Gesamlage s equydieentae is doubtu snce the te es to e ntouce as an equaento das Ms de AKat we nepet ths coecty the tem das Made AKat ees t eney uantitatiey wie Gesamlage ees to thiseney when stctued nto pecabe states


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C O S O O G C N D O G C D E N S O N S 1

for specc ener stte (Lage) n the mter quoted ove25 Echstte (Lage or Zutand) s chnge deelopment r comnton ofte mnt f total energy. Cnsequntly" sys Nesche the

present deelpment [(C)] s ut repetton ad s e onewhch ore t (B) . " t s t s pont tht the term Geamtlage s oduced Eerythng hs come t pss n so f s thett confgurton of l energy (Geamtlage aller Krte) etellyrecurs" 7 Des the trm here sl men A or B or C? Certny notThe trm hre shoud mn A B nd C tken colectvely Echndvdul Lage (A or B r C) frms l the Geamtlage allerKrte The wrds Lage Entwcklung, Vernderung ombnaton

nd Zutand re frly we terchngele wthout loss of sense

recsly ecuse s modes of energy they re the formsenergy cn ssume And the forms whch >ths one energy ssumes theensemle f ts sttes s e Geamtlage aller Krte e totl confgurton of nergy Note s tht the term Geamtlage s snglr

s ndeed t ought to e The sum of e Lagen forms one Geamtlage Prnthetcy, the plur Geamtlagen s not troduced unlthe nexttolst sentence of s eny nd rses n ddtonl dff

cu n understndng Netzsche's fomutn Up the nexttolst

entence, ten, Netzsche seems to e tkg out two rders ofphenomen the whole" nd ts prts" The prts are the Lagen

(sttes) nd ther trnsformtn the whle" s the Ma der llKrat or Geamtlage aller Krte. Thus, Lagen A B C consttutee Geamtlage ABC.

f the ve nterpreton s ccurte the frt of the three concludg sentences sserts somehg ke ths 1 Whether nythng

dentc hs eer com to pss prt fro the hypothetcl recur-rence f Geamtlage AB s demonsrle (2) The net sen-

tence noduces e lur frm, Geamtlagen nd declres tht twould pper t the Geamtlage sucures tutes new n theetest detl so tht two dfferent Geamtlagen [pl) caot con- nyhng dencl" 8 Ths sentence s puzzlng n the one hnd,sys Netzsche t wuld per tht Geamtlage (ABC) suctrests tes (A nd ts cntent B nd ts content, C nd ts content)

2 Cf O X 556 aov26 O Nachlass X 51 52.7 bd.2 bd.


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H E H L O S O H O E E R N L R E C R R E N C E

in such a way hat two distct Gesamtagen shre nothg identic.This is dd e bass of the hypohesis Niezsche had just presented, one od have to conclude that any two Gesamtlagen would

have to contan something identical" In terms of our ilustraonGesamtlage A- C could recu in ny sequency win the folowingorder: A--C A -A-C C-A CA C--A. his woudseem to folow from Niezsche's argment But at case any twoerent Gesamtlagen wod have to share at a miimm a specificLage A or or C. To rescue e appent inconsistency we wouldit seems to me ether have to emate he distinction between Lageand Gesamtlage or we wod have to show at he disncon doesnot fact materiy ect the agment Snce e frst altetiveseriously ters e text perhaps the second alteave is a viable one

We mt want to suggest at the distinction between Lage andGesamtlage is a ifferent sort of relaionship of prt to whole Interms of ou usaion we mit want to identify a Lage an eventwi a Gesamtlage for nte e dea of Scrates (Lage as anevent Gesamtlage In at case he doce of eternal recurencewould asser that dicreet wodevents (Lagen recur because heGesamtlage etey recus The dfficuly here is tat it would be

come completely mpossible to se of e plural Gesamtlagen inthis case If a Lage is a iscreet wold-event and a Gesamtlage is heensemble of Lagen, how can here be more an one ensemble of alldiscreet woldevents? In s interprtaion eier Gesamtlage Aor or C s e only ossible ensemble of Lagen, or we wd up witthe diemma suggested by he elier inerpretation If we admit three(or more) Gesamtlagen contang discreet woldevents the recug Gesamtlagen wod have to dupcate one anoher

If we now reect on the nettolast setence of te entr we areleft wi at east wo teatives Eier Nietzsche has inroduce nconsistency in e fomulaon of which he is unaae or he isawe of some difficuty I prefer to suggest at Niezsche w probably aware of some adequacy n te argent even if is not theone advanced here) and in consequence chose not to publish it in anyshape or form If this is a plausible view any mber of ambiguities his cosmoloc formation may have ven rise to Niezschesreluctnce to develop it fuer n ultimely to publish his s

cover For example n addiion the apparent inconsistency wicha distction beeen Lagen and Gesamtlage ntroduces there is


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C O S M O L O G C A L N D L O G C L D M E N S O N S 9

ambigity suggested by 'he sentence "Eveyhg has come to pass so far as the Geamtlage ale Kte etely recus29 In he opnng passages of he en under dscusson, Netzche had assered that

a fine number of Lage cotue etealy ecg momens ofone sum of energy (ll-Kat). Netzsche meely asserts that here aea fe numbe of such Lage. No atemp o justfy ths asseon s

mae beynd the decaraon hat a fnte amount of er somehow mpes a fne numbe of ene saes. In the senence quoedabove howeve the fnte number of Lage s made to depend mostexplcy upon the ee recurence of e Geamtlage (everythingrecurs because - so far as he Geamtlage recurs) Ts ntroduces an mpot source of rors For e mee fieness of energy does ot enal a fne numbe of possbe confgraons o tsener, as Athur Dano has shown30 If Nietzsches formulaon ofe de of ete ecurence s baed on e fact that enegy sfnite en he is smpy aken in deducng a fte number ofwoldstates from it As Au anto ponts out The sees 1 + + + . . sums to a fnite number 2. Bu ee s ot a fnenumber of membes e sees 1 But an his is an eresngeatue of Nezsches argumen the noon of a fte quanty of

enegy is seny ropped subsequeny n favo of a Geamtlage ofthis energy In consequence he sentence Everyhng has come opass in so far as the Geamtlage o l nergy etely rcurs itroduces a new materi condton In s fomuaon he numbe ofLage (states) is finte ot because he out of ener is fnte, butbecause he ensembe colection of Lage s a fte numb Ofcouse, e agment s ccua It meey assers a fne umbr ofmembes n the cass Geamtlage because h set conssts of a fnie

number of membesIf we now step back fom te argumen as t were it seems at

we hae opene a panoas bo If Nezsche had pehaps scbbethe tem Geamtlage n hase e would have flen nto an nvaideducio by enang t and speakng ony of he eaishp ofstates to e toty of ene O e oher and by intoucnghe em e begs the queson by assming a a fnite enegy sumconsss of a fnte number of ene tate.

bd ur h a hooph ( 9 20 bd


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20 H E P H I L O S O P H Y O F E T E R N A R C U R R E N C E

As suggested above, Nietsche may have been aware of the dfficultes n the gument Peraps and tis is nsuppoted speculationthe term Gesamtlage was roduced specicaly to avoid te assump

tion tht a fite sum of energy etails a finte number of ener tatesThe net-tlast setence of ey X 5 152, icosistent orambigous, or both cod now perhaps be readi a new lit In litof te above cosideratos it is mptat to remember that is setece foows wo cruci senteces whch cod ow be read to men:

(1) "Eveyng has come to pass i so f as te total cofigraton (Gesamtlage) of al energy etely recurs (That is, thesole reason for affmg te ete recurrence ypothesis isat the Gesamtlage eteay recus There is no evidence to

justfy te clam at the fnite sum of energy necessary cosists of a finte ensemble of ner states and yet his must beassed we are to arge for ete recurrence.)

(2) Wther, qite ide from at anyting identcal has cometo pass is etely demosrabe (That is there is no way todemonsrate e recurrence o ying if we do not frst as-sume at he fiite sum of ener is a sm wose members areso finite Only the assumptio of a Gesamtlage aller K

te a fte tot ensemble of states of ener, ca we even eterta e hpohesis)

Wi ts cotext the exttoast setece may be rea as expressig Niesche's own reservatios about e cogency of s formulation. short it could be read as a atempt to relate the ypothesisto the tesony of expeence L is lit, te sentence assets tatany Gesamtlage is so rich n novety and deta at wo Gesamtlagencnnot possibly cotai anytng identical n short tere are no

good empric reasons for suggesting the ypothesis in e first placef eece were to suggest some reason for adoping te theory as

a cosmology en Niezshe would at least ave fond it plausible.As it stands owever it seems that each Gesamtlage confiatinstctres its Lagen, states in such a way tat we ave oly noveltyrater an identites If such a readng of te net-tolast sentence isplausible the last line merely eaborates o this ont That is te lastsenence asserts tat it seems doubtful that anythng identical eists ina Gesamtlage; even leaves ae not identical!

To sum u f Nietzsches disnction between Lage and Gemaeis accidental and ielevan his fomulaion beomes a reducto ad


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C O S O O G C A L N D O G C D E N S O N S 21

aburdum which assers n effec, ha a finite number of energy saesecur etely becuse . a fne umber of energy saes recu Oagan f we iore he dsncon Nesche ply wrong A fniesm of ener does o entai a fne number of energy saes Sncethe dsnon inroduced by the erm Gesamlage appears he asfour senences and ereafer he em eny sps om vew we reperhaps jusfied in atachng mportnce to i In any case it cannotbe gnored If then the distincon bween Lagen Gesamlage ndGesamlagen signfcn e arment s at a minmum a peoprncp and a wors nconssent

In he lgt of hese considerons coupled with e fact ht heseare npubshed enes I have suggested that Nizche may have

been aware of te dffcule n he formuion d an atempt wasmade o interpre e las nes he expression of such awreness But perhaps Nezsche expressed hs own eservionbou e persuasivene of hs formuaton more poy than wehave done in a noe whch foows he quoed maea XII 58 : "Isn'he existence o y variaon at l n the worl whch surrounds us

her han compee crcurity aready suffcient refuation of aunform circuari of tht ess? 32

I have spen a perhps excessive amo o tme nsiderng heast ree sentences of eny XII 51-52, prmly o show tht tecomoocal/empca argmen was wren more n he spt of though-expermen and many of Nieches noes assume thicharacer than as a susane argmen in suppo of defeposon The eason for dong hs as has been saed earlie s opot ou a pevous tereton have reed oo heav on hecosmoogcal hohes assumng ha i possessed a eate deeeof negbli nd freom from ambigty han do he prescriptvefouans of he docne of ete recuence I do no mea ompy of course ha he cosmooca agument s of no vue nndersandn iezsches admtedy dfficl teaching Bu the methodoogy espoused here subordaes is mpotance o those efecions concerning he doce of ete recurrence wich Nietsche

GOA aha XI 58: s nich de Exisen end weche Vechie-

dehei und nch ie Keike in d uns uenden We choni usicnde Geenws ee ene eichssie Keso s Bsthenden?


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22 E H L O O H O F E E R L R E C U R R EN C E

chose o publsh. Ths seemngly obvous mehodological precep hasbeen vuly unvesy voled by Nezche scholrs

W would eely recurrng cofguraon mea n e lgh

o he bove quoed comologcal eres? Would me h denca experence aes recu eeally? If the umber of ossbe

cofguraons s fne does hs mply a logcally ossbe a welas emprcaly acual conguraons repea hemseves eernaly? If he

ver fows eeay o he sea, doe he se flow o he rver n equaeey sce s a "osble cofguon? Dd Nezsche mply

connuy beween man and nure hs formuaon? I so wouldbeavor a gven momen n me recr eely? Am I codemned

o wre hs senence orever eve upo compleon? Ae e un

realed leraves we have rejeced our ve and hory

chosen eeay sce hey consue logcay ossbe coga

ons whc are presumably fe mbe?

hese quesons ae o rheorc They are rased becuse hey

re le unanswered he formulon fod he Nachass dye Nezche schols who rgy ke he doce o ee recur

ence erousy re nmou n org cera meodologc

dsncon been "publsh nd publhed Nezsche we

cosdeng he done of eeal ecrence Fo exmple KLwh among he o hoou and penag Nezsche schors

expeses hs fa n he eprc/cosmologc verson o he doc

rne of eerna ecurrece by clamng: Ths effor owad c

ec fodon s no exornary deour bu he necesary con

equece of e fc h Nezsche waned o each omehg A

comncbe phoophc docrne canno be cone wh he mere

reference o an ecc vson or a rough skech The aemp a a

nra-scenc fodao for he eeal recurrence s he epora scure of he physc wod s o be e no les erously

han he ohe aemp o deveop s n ehcal posulae. 33 Ye o cea o me ha Nesche wed o ech somehg n

LOwh's sese nor s ear h he neded o each he eealecurrence a he emoal srucre of he physc wod whchwould pesumaby eemp man om hs oulaon

hould be cear from e above ha queos coceng a

33 Nitzshs Phlosoph de ewge Wederkehr des Glechen (Sutgar:Kohhaer 1956) p. 98.


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C O S O O G C A N D O G C A D E S O N S 2

nambios miri omaon nd no as nswrs. For xam, it s not a wr an nr oniraion imlis sima strr wo llKr wos ontn s nin ib.

s wr as qstion o ow n o ra s noon o ta dmnson n wi dnt conens a rr wod

os an insrb obsa. osmooi ormaion s nrrd to man a nar, ndrstood ts now sns (nophyss a rrs wn inoab s - d and nmr Wntr and rin n do s rdd o ommona rom w s w n imossb o dr siiantxooi tss W n wod Nzs a d so?

mos snnt robm w ndris Nizss or sow w ar o ndsnd t rtons bwn miri ndaxooia dimnsons o t dotrin o rrrn T iwt Nitss osmooi amn s dissd arir ws no

nndd as t "s bsis or t dotrn dos no dsos o robm or wn Nzs stas dorin n mmo ta w ot o as i ts momn rn rrs amos iarb adds a dara t wll r awa Tos

nrs n wi rmar masis s xioo nonss ssa a osmoo w bin ror wt osmoo oa r rrn w a rqrd o sk wat xiooi osns an nas. Mos Nis sors wo wr arnsrobd b dotom n t don a mr smd ttman aon s od b rrrn as onsqn o osmoo. w ssm ta xioo is a ddi onsn o t osmoo owr sr dits ars T

da rs nrn n ssin an pror oon btwn t osmoo and axoo bn sn xrssd b Arr Dno ; "T raons bwn sn and ioso is omx nd dt o nrns w rn rom on o or s rnrab to a Ts aonar words ss ta Nizs d "ddd an oo o ta rrrn om a osmoo o t rrn basd n somin mor an nad soo rton wod rqird os oaddona mss

rh no ehe hlooph or illn, 95). 208.


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24 E O O O E E R A R E CU R R E N C E

One could, of course arge as Danto dos, that Nisch's rrencs to the doctn o te recurnc sch as "My drdecas: the task is to lv n such a way that you ms wish to live

agn - yo wl anyway! , 35 exprss his pculiar psychological rtn to hs own cosmoogy. I or one fnd suh an argmt uyunconvncing, and or svera reasons Frst bcause such a causalargument prsupposs that e discovry o e docrine o talrecurrence as an empric cosmoogy s temporay prior to (caus o)oer formulations The Nachlass dos not support such a clam.3 Atbest t supos e vew that n 8 8 Nezsche ormatd the doctrne of eteal recrrence as an olo and cosmolo Which came

rst s a moot pont Scnd, we would have to assume at Nizschwas satsd with the adequcy of the emprcal ormuation he hadjotd down in hs nots have rgued above that this, to is a mistaken ssumpto Thrd we wod hav to assme at after havngformulatd e cosmoloca docne Netzsche then chose not toincorporate t nto 1 book or whch these notes re prepratory,The Gay Science He chose, nstead, to corporate only tose formuatons xplcily dang wt the xoloca menson of the doctrne Why shold have sppressed mater whch saisfed hm

wod be puzzing especialy to those who are falar wth Nitzsches habts Lasy, we wod have to assume hat Nezsche washy uncrc that he saw no probem whatsoever n deducg anaxioo from a cosmology Since Ntzsche nowher attmpts sucha deducon we wod have o assme that Nezsche dd not ses problem at al at hs rcon s n nrefctve psychoogicalrespons

To b sure, th Nachlass supports the view at Netzsche rgrdd

the dtrne of etea recuenc as the most scintiic o al hypoess, 37 and further exhbts Netzsches vew at e aw ofconsrvaton of enr demands eteal recurrenc 38 These oftenquotd phrass ored as evidence to spport he oca, epistemoogcal and/ or chronoloca prority of the cosmoocal version oth dtrine of te recurrence smply wont do Frst both phrases

3 GO acha X 64 "eine Lere st s lebe, dss du wnsenmst wiede z eben it die Auabe du wist es jedenas!

36 Cf GOA X

GOA aha XV 82 "die issenscatliste ale Hyptese GOA acha XVI, 398 "De Sz vom Besteen de Enerie odet die

ewe Wiedeke.


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C O S O O G C N D O G I C D I E N S O N S 2

were wrtten in te lte eigtie were written ter te comologiclnd xiologic erion d been recorded nd ter e xiologicldimenin d been explored n prt Second Niece clim tt

te doctrine of ete recurrence i te mot ciefic" ypoteidoe not neceriy imply tt it i n empiric/comolocl ypotei e term wssenschaflchse (mot cientfic) crrie f

more retricted meng Eni tn it doe in Germn Te tecnic been preempted in ni by te exct" ciencete ntrl" nd memc" cience In Eni te tem temo cientfic" immeditely gget metodologicl igor empiclerificion or n xiomtied dedce ytem. Howeer e nouWssenschaf (cience) lo men knowledge leng" orcolrip" We would probbly wice f e A nd Humtie

were referred to cience" in ordry Eni usge Yet thephlologschsorsche Wssenschafen re preciely te Hmntie Simlrly the djtie cientic" mc more rectedmenng in Eni n doe it Germn conterprt" wssenschaflch. In Germn it gge olrly leed" wel cientic etce' ertion t the dtre of etel recrencei te mot cienfic" ypotei lee n dobt te re" to wic

it belong No one would cringe t the ggetio t e wssenschaflchse ypotei i n xioloc or metpyicl potlte

f e were Nitce' Germn ctemporry It i feture of theEni lnguge tt we enconter considerble embment

wen ggetg te mot cientific xiolocl or metpyicypotei Since e term te mot cientfic cn pply wit eqlforce o n ypotei in eier of te two dimenion we ggeted

empricl nd xioloc it doe not folow tt Nietce

to e dicoered e mot cientfic ypotei men pecific-lly empircl potulte Tird e opinion tht te lw of con-ero demd" etel recence rely doe not entil tehow of tt demnd It doent een sugges ow e former demn he ltter Are we to undertnd tt te comoloc enieqoted erer re e expliction of e ow" of t demnd?Or i ti imply noter ggete enry wic Niece lteriored? If e former i te ce ten no new lit i ed on eemprcl rgent If e lter ltete i e ce gin nothngnew in principle i ntrodced

Nonethele the problem of relting te comolo" to te


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26 H E H O S O H O E E R N R E C R R E N C

ology remans If we reject he view, a s we have dne, at he im

picions of the dctrine of ete recurence express Nietzsches

psycholoca response to an empirical csml, we are left withony w opns We cn hunt, in van, for evidence ha Niezschepresented ansfmaion rles which would relate the empirica to

the aiolgic they f eeal recurence. We wuld have to find aeat many premises I am afraid; among em hat all actins are

reducible t ener ansfomations withn a cfiguran, a alquiies are reducile to quty transfmans and, a least hat

no novel quaityacin-maer-energy cnfigatin can ever emergeThere would ave to be a ea many mre assumpins I reet t

say If Niesche had infered an axilogy from his empcal fmulains he wod ndeed have taken qute a leap The secnd er

aive, for which we have been argung al ng is o suggest thaNiezsches csmoca argumen is a cnsequence r crlary f

nt te cause f sme more asic nsi (axiological and existential)Indee he hught f eteal recurrence ccued o Niezsche in

Augut 88 "0 fee beynd man d ime 9 This is hadlyemprc eran nd as Niezsche hmself asser, his published

works are an attemp ariculate isit e dcne of eternalrecurrence I now relate e story f Zarausa The basic cncepton f this wrk (is he ete recurence noin. 40 Of couse I dnot sugge tha Niezsche was unnerested in fndg empical cn

frmatin for his dcine. On he cntray he was vey much inerest in findng empiica cnfrmaon but appaently fr a dcine

which he had embraced fr reasns her than empiric cgency.

GOA XV e Hm 8 : 000 ss jests n Menh und Ze.0 GOA XV e Hm 8 Ih he nnmeh de Geshhte desZaatusa. D Gundonpt ds Weks de EweWedekftsGedke .


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C H E R

NIETZSCS EXISTENTIAL IMPEATIV

he twentyfou enties (numbers 90 1 4) ccerning the empiicl

basis of the dctrine f eteal recurence fund in e ntes frmthe peid f The Gay Scence are uped under e heading Presentatin and Fundation of the Dcrne 1 he remnng sventenenies uder 'The te Recurence" (numbers 1 1 532) are in-corprated under the title ffect of the Doctrine upn Mankind" t the poblematic posed by the latter e which was explred inThe Gy Scence and subsequent wrks

Nietzsche expresses he dependent staus f he axiolcal prb-

lematc succincy: ven e ccular repetitin is nly a prbabiltyor possiblit even the ut f a possibliy ca shatter and trans-fom us nt nly experiences r definite expectains ! Hw the(mere) possiblity f eteal damnation has workd" Mrever hetwo drections n which the dctrne f teal recurrence is develpedby Netzsche ae aleady mplied in this note; the axiolgical andmetaphysic Within the axilgical cntext eteal recurence func-tions as a posulate etealzg life with te crrespondng exultatino despar which such a realization would bring to the individual.Metaphysicly he dctrine f eteal urrence funcins as a

revaluation f values chlengg metaphysis Christianity and ni-hlism trough the tansfat f a beyond" to an eternalw"

Nietzsche writes i his notes y dcte declares he task is t

GOA aha X 5163.2 bd 63693 bd 65 Wenn de KreiWedehn ach nr ene Wascheinlchei

ode Mlchkei it ach der Gedanke eine Mlchket kann ns erschtennd esalen nch nr mpndnen oder betmme rwanen Wehat de Mcheit der ewien Verdamnis ewrkt.

4 The metahysica dmenin will be deat with ate


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28 H E H O S O H O F E E R N R C U R R E N C E

ve in such a wa ha ou mu wsh o ve again ou anwa" The piosophc meang of is en s saed in eaedea in The Gay Scence

h a What, if one day or night a demon were to sneakafter you into your loneiest loneliness and say to you, his life as younow live it and have lived it you wil have t live once more and innumer-able times more and there will be nothing new in it but every pain andevery joy and every thought and sgh and everything unspeakably smalor great must retu to you all in the same succession and sequence even this spider and this moonight between the trees, and even this mo-ment and I myself he eternal hourglass of existence is turned over andover and you with it a dust grain of dust Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? O

have you once experienced a tremendous moment hen you would haveanswered him, Yu are a god and neve have I heard anything moregodly. If this thought were to gain possession of you it woud ransformyou as you are or perhaps crush you. he question regarding each andevery thing you want this once more and innumerable times more'would eigh upon your actions as the greatest stress Or how ell disposed would you have to become to yoursef and to life to c h than this ultimate teal confirmation and seal6

Wen he iooc dension o e done of eea ecu

ence as cied aove is inepeed n a saoad wa .e.when he dine s nepeed in a e fashon anogous o heinepeaion o he cosmoogica veson sevee inena inconsis

GOA aha X eine ehre eben d du wnhenmu wieder u eben i die Aube du wir e edenl!

6 oavaga GOA) VI D Fhh Whaj 291292 Wwenn dir eine e oder Nch ein Dmon in deine einm Einmkeinchchiche und dir e Diee Lben wie du e je leb und eleb hwir du noch ein l und unhlie le eben men und e wird nichNeue drn n onde jeder Schmer und ede Lu und jeder Gednke und

Seer d le nlich Klene und Groe deine eben mu dir wiederkommen und Alle in dereben Reihe und Foe und ebeno die Spinneund diee ondich wichen den Bumen und ebeno dier Auenblick undich eer Die ewie Snduhr de Dein wrd immer wieder umedreh ndu m ihr Subchen vom Sube ! Wrde du dich nich niederweren undmi den Zhnen nirchen und den Dmon veruchen der redee? Oder hdu einml einen uneheuren Auenblick erleb wo du nworen wrdedu bi ein Go und nie he ich Glichere! Wenn ener Gednke ber dichGew bekme er wrde dich wie du bi vewndeln nd vieleich erml-men die Fre bei Allem und Jedem: 'will du die nh ein l nd nhunhlie e? wrde l d re Schwerewich u denem Hndelnlieen Oder wie me du dir er und dem Leben u werden nchNh h u ag l nch dieer leen ewien Beiun und Beieelun?"


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N E S C ES E X S E N A E R A V E 29

tences arise. How is the regulative nature mplied by the doctrine ofete recurrence to be reconcied wit an eternay recuin and

obecte dentica ife? If our ves are n fact but etea repettons,

containng the same anguish exutation and monotony, does it make

sense to postuate an mperatie enjonng us to e s f our ives

recur etely? More sficanty our ies as ow experencedre but repettions of an nnty of ives dentcy endured is there

not a determnism mped this doctrne thus vitatng a peratves? the ete recuence expresses a naur" aw, ow c itecome an obect of coice It woud, on e surace seem mean

ess to exhort one to e as tere were an ete recurrence

as exhortng one to ive as i suected to the aw of gravity.

a tera eve Netzsche's doctrne of tea recurrence posesne queston not resoved y the texts: does eveythng the ocy

possibe as we as te hstorcay actu man and nature - move in

an eteal cyce dentca at each pont wthn the crce? Wthout a

satsfactory answer to ths queson te doctre of ete recurrence

seems to inoe an ntea ceaage On the one hand t functions

as a descrpte ypothesis, whie funconin as a reguatve prncipe,

on the oter and Te asseron that e recurs eterny (empricay)

s dfcut to reconcie with te exortaton to ive as f t recrredeteay

As a consequence of s ambiguy my Nche intereters

hae minimzed te conceptua vaue of the docne of ete re

currence atoeter Ka Jaspers for exampe stops ust short of

Baeumers and Berams reeon of e ete recurrence noton

y repudiatng e conitve status of the dea The concept as such

n its empty rationalty wth ts unmedtated content . is for us a

seess means of expressn prima experences of man 7 The ori

gin of te idea is nt a payfu nteectua reection n Nietsche, utthe exstenti experence Sensefhung) of a moment whch, n so

fr as t gae rse to this dea, gave ts moment a decsive metaphysc mean ecause of t 8 Those who hae attempted to rescue theconceptu atus of the etea recurrence dotre aganst the exs

tentaexperentia thrust ae been beset by the nconssences of the

doe and have frequeny been forced merey to impose ome

7 Karl Jae eche nfhng n das Vesndns enes hiosophees (Berl: De Gruer 90 p 36 1 .

bd p . 35


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N I E E E I E N I I E R I V E 1

iy eg ezsches hugh ehas he seach r gcaconsisency unwiy msed he rcrusean aw conadcnun a hine whm ha aw o, needs jusicain. I is ceain

ha by meas cnssency we were aem usy iezsches dcne ub spece etentts, e woud auhenicae whaiezsche hed o be a abe 1 his is n o sugges ha he cnce e recurrence o b undersod ny by ading a cneX iaoiy Howeve i a suue were he undamena chaer of e iy o hawhichis hen e qus ocosency and ogica vaidiy wud be devaive reiies o beexaed n erms o his moe undamena reay Ad ezschesviioc and uani crique eason was desed in ar o rob

reasn ay caim o exusiviy aunm Frm hi esecivereason is o viewed as a sefceyng judge n he cour rey soo sea bu as a deend n a iezsches cusade agans easn and sucur ea he eren aadx o resenig gumens agains boh heeby renig a more reanab view fbein

he dne f ee rcurence hen m be iaby aayzd wihin e conex f is osiin o hee ereneag

reaiies as ezsche desd em: Meahyscs Chrisaniyad hism Since ausa is e eacher f eea ecurrence mi we b ased: a wha in hsoy des aahusa emege;agas wom d wha does he am his eachng?

One f he ms succinc and ea ahorisms deang wihhese hemes comes rm he The Twlght of the Idols I mees asx eny emc viviscon o hosohy uder he ie Reason Phisohy: 12

How the Tue Wold Fnally Became A Fable;hory o an o

1 The tue wd; attainabe o the ag the pou, te vituou on eliv n t he s (det om o te dea, eatively cleve lepeuaiv Ccumocuton o the entence Plat am he th.)

2 The te wod; nattanab o now, bu pomied o the age tpou the vtuou one (o the inne who epnt (Poge eidea it become moe ubtle, deceptive, incompehenbe i ecoefemae, t becme Chtian . .

Th tue wold; ntbe, demotable, npomiable but te11 GOA V De Gdeung 82. bd.


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2 H E H L O O H OF E E R N R E C U R R E N C

oug of a consolaon, an obligaon mperaive (Te oldsun a boom, bu penerang oug mis and skepcs e ideaas become elusve, pal, nodc, Kngsbergan.)

Te rue wold unaanable? A ny rae, unaained. And as unaaned also unknown Consquenly also no consolng, redeeingor obligang o wa could someng unknwn oblgae us? . (Gay mog. s yawn of reason Cockcow of posivs)

. Te "rue wod an dea wc s no longe useful for anyng, oevn oblgang a useless dea, an dea ecome suprluous cone-queny, a efued dea le us abols (Big day breakfas reuof on en and ceefulness Plaos embarrassed blus pndemoni-um of all free sprs.)

. T rue wold we ave abolse: Wc wold remaned? Te ap

paen one peaps?. . Bu no! Wh he ue word we have aohedhe apparen one a we!(Noon momen of e bees sadow an of e longes error gpon of umaniy !NPT ZARATHSTA 3

1 he u wod, as he wod beyon 1 4 he e eam of

bemng et t physk a ae eo I s no eaedby Pao i he sp o a deahe omulaon deahmen maskpasson o Nzshe bu a wll o ende egle stp

he hae o beng up beog ha s the ghes wllto-

3 id Wie de 'wre Welt endlh ur Fbel wurde Gece ene De whe Welt eehb den Wesen den Frommen I denTuendhfen er lebt n h it i. ltete Fo der Idee reltv ksmpel bereend. Umshrebun des Stzes h Plto in di Wahhit .) I De We Wet unerrehb fr ett ber verspohen r denWesen den rommen den Tuendhen den Snde der Busse thut) Fortsh der Idee se wrd ener vernlher usslher i wd Wi,se wrd hslh . . .) I 3 De wre Wel uneehbr unbewesb versprehb be shon ls edht Trost ene Vephun e m-perv. I De le Sonne m Grnde ber durh Nebel und Skepss hnduh

de Idee sbm ewoen I bleh nordsh knbersh.) De weWel nerehb? edenfls unereh. Und ls uneeht uh unnnt. Folh uh nht tsted elsend verphend . . . Greroren Erses Ghnen de Veunft. Hhnenshre des Povsmus) . De'whe Wet ene Idee de zu Nhs mehr nz st nht enml mehr er-pflhtend ene unnz ene bess ewordene Idee fogh enewderlee Idee shffen w se b I Heller Fhk Rkkehr deson I nd der Heerket Shhe Plos eufelslrm I ler reenGeste 6 De whre el hben w besh: welhe Wet bleb b?de shenbe veleh? I Aber nen d wahn W han wi auh Id ha ah tt Aenbk des kesten Shens; Endedes lnsen Irrths Hhepnkt der enshet; IPIT ZARAHUS-RA

Id C lso GOA VI o pah Zaahuta. Von den Hneweltlern69 Von de Sebstbewndn 65.


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N E S C ES E X S E N A L E R A V E 33

powe. The l t th as the tpe expesses mans spri-ta dminatin ve the wld and ve hmsef. Ode is posedpn e flctatng cvamasks f the phenmena em as the

trbent passins f e individal ae vecme. Hence metapysic hich is Patism at tm f Nietzsche emplys eass eapn t verpwe the etena cyce f genesis wth decay

and death becmg In s fa as eas cannt gasp chage itht tng it int static frm f beng phsphic systems aended in e The ltimate tr abt the fl f things cannt b absbed gs (f ife) ae rited tads e

Fially the t kn t ende ntellible mves in direc

t simtanesl. It tansfms becg int being and beingis y beng I Pat the trth. 17 Beng my selfvecmng.

2 The eddng f Plat t Christianity mred n the secndstage f the aphism pshes the beyd f the attanabe tthe pmised Whle te Platic diectic psed the ascent fmthe defectve mde f being t e peary mde as a task f the in-divida t be accmplished in this lfe, Chistiay sspeds erthy

sefvecming tgee fm NietZsches pnt f vantage In

place f the I " hich e te wrd pses as a pssibity f the

individ Chsaniy sbsttes e pmse f ete f hesinne wh epents.18 The il t a beynd mves fm the individ t the cllecve fm metaphysics t ein

3 In ant's critic phlsphy stage # 3 bt atament andpmise f the e d e ablished The lst e d is evived as a pale ech hweve n the pstlates f Gd feedm and

immrtaliy I is the ld sn see thgh the ls f easkepticism The tre tmeess nd eteal is n lnge granteed by

easn by faith bt by heedg the categcal impeave Tete wld is the ndemstable ed f cnsistency in cdct.

4. What is ndemnstrable nattanable pisable is als nkn Hence the nkn can have effect pn lfe s fa as

it cant address itself t cscisness Sely a sent vice tes

15 O achla V 1 0 1 m Wrn n Crr e Sein upg i hh Wl ah.

O hla 8 Wi m ing g i ng ni Og (m b) f m

ing.' O Gzdng 82R Ibd.


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4 H E H O S O H O F E E R N R E CU R R E N C E

no imperative it s silet I it exists at all the the true world iswhoy oer enirely beyod human commucation I oy thekowable is re how can the now obligate us Stage # 4 rise

o positivism5 ut i beng the true word is uknown d idemotrable

it is so knowable Let us ablish it It is a useless idea God

is dead.hese irst ive historical stages impressioitically drawn by

Nietzsche The Twlgh of Idols, represent a history o the devuatin o vlues The highest values Go te Absolute the meless adeter ineed truth itsel have ceased to hold sway over the i-

dividual Despite s polemic oppositio to aditiona metaphysicsNietzsche did not regard is historical devalution either as completeor a source o uneuivocal joy. For ith he true word we haveaboished the aparent one as we 2

Nietzsche cosistently idetied the domnant theme Westethut wi PlatoncChristian otherworliess" However themere hitoricy perceive devaluatio o beig does ot spell ma'sredempon in hs world either A distictio bewee appearace

and rety becmig an beg ilusi ad u c b drawoly when bo elemets ae preset in he dialecc. Wiout reaity-beig appearancebecomingiusion do ot exist what theyare eiter Whe the e world sinks into oblivio the apparentne ceases to exist qu apparet wold as we. All that is let ater theaboitio o the ue wod is an aimless becomg i which al mea-inul distictons betwee veridic ad delusory disappear. Ideedthe very possibility o menigul riteriological distictios becomesmoot with the dissimation o the tre world" Nietzsche chacter-

ized this aimless relativity which he experienced i every sphere orealiy culural polc historic d phiophcal as smWhe the hiest vues becoe devalued ihilism emerges. ut thehighest values become devued not in the sese that man kowglycronts an eteal abyss in ear ad tremblig. The hiest valuessimply o loger exist. Ad ma accepts thi event not with stoicresigtion but in total uawareness Nietches most orce statemet o this view ollows:

bd. bd


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N E C H E E E N M E R V E 5

The Madman Have you no heard o tha madman who lit a lane inthe bright mog ran to the market place, and cried incessantly, I seekGod! I eek God Since many of those who were tandng around justhen did not believe in God h povoked much laughter Did he ge lost?

said one. Did h lose his way lke a chld? said another Or is he hidg? Ishe araid o us? Has h gone on a voyage? or emigrated? - Thus theyylled and laughed all together The madman umpd into heir mds andpierced thm wih his glances Whither is God he cried I shall tellyou We have ked hm - you and I We are his murderers Bu howhave w done his ! ow were we able o drik up the sea? Who gave ushe spoe o wip away the n horzon? Wha did we do when weunchained his earth om it n? Whithr is i moving now? Whither arewe moving? Away from all suns? Are we no plungng coninualy? Backward sideward forward to all sides? Is thr stll an up or down? Are we

no sraying as through an nini void? Does no th breath of empyspace prss upon us? Has it no becom colder? Is not nght and morenight comng on constantly Mus not lantes be li in he mog? Dowe no hear anhing yet o he noise o the gravedggers who are burygGod? Do we no smell anyhig yet of the godly decomposition? Gods toodecompose God is dead God rmans dead And we have iled him!ow shal we comfo ourselves h murdrers of al murdrrs? Whatwas holies and mos poweu o all ha he world hitherto possessdhas bld to deah nder our knves Who wl wipe hi blood rom us?With wha watr can we clanse ourselves? Wha esivals o aonemnt,

what acred games shl we have o nven? Is no he greaness o hisdeed oo gra for us? Mus no we ourselve become gods simply to seemwothy of i? ere ha never ben a graer ded and whover will bbo afer us or the sake o hi ded he wll belong o a hgher hisoryhan all history hheo Here he madman fell silen and looked agana hi liseners: ey oo were siln and stard a him srangely A las hehrew his lan on the ground and i broke and wen ou come ooealy he said hn my ime ha no ye come i trmendous evn isill on is way stll wanderng i has no y prssed upon he ears oman. Lighing and hunder requir me the light o he sars requires

tme deeds require time even ater hey are done in order to be sen andheard This deed is sll more distan rom the han he mo distanstars - and ye hey have done h hemeve .

GOA I De Fhhe enhaf 18990 D oe Menh abti nicht von jenem toen Menchen gehrt der am heen omittag eineaee anndete af den Markt ief nd unaurich chrie 'ch uche Gott ch che Got - Da gerade dort viee von denen uammen tanden wecenicht an Got gaubten erregte er ein groe Gecher. t er denn verorengegangen? agte der Ene. at er ich veafen w ein ind? age der dere.Oder ht e ch verteckt? Frchtet er ch vor un? t er zu Sch gegangen?

augewandert? - chrieen und achen e drcheinander Der toe Menchprang mitten ner e nd dchbore e mt einen Bicen. Wohn it Got?ref e ich wl e euch agen Wir haben ihn getet - ihr nd ich Wir ae


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3 HE O O H O F E E R N R E C U R R E N C E

Zarathustra's (Netzsches) fa task, en, is e cofrontaton with

hism. And it should be noted tat s no a hlism whchprclms the meanessness of a blnd and mute unverse Ths

nihsm has a nesetc essence: t s e unreflectve ihlsm exhbted in daly "on sens d "cheefuess afte he eath of Go

t s lie wtout deph.Howver, Netzsche caot r to "e wod eer Hs

ow philosopc deveopmn brs s possib He ad passed

throu the frst wo of hs ee ceebraed stages; the ree meta

morphoses - came on and ch.22 The o cn no onger be a

came.

As a young phoogst Niezsche ha sccmed to adoalmetaphyscs n e sense at he had ssumed the context and burden

of seeng reease from te vicssues of what was hel to be a chmec phnomen wod. In The th of Tgedy2 release from

paifu eistence was paray sought throu an orderg prcple;

sind ne Mrder! Aber we haben wr dies gemaht? Wie vermhten w dasMeer asutinken? Wer gab uns den Shwamm den ganzen Horizont wegzuwihen? Wat aten wir als w die Erde von ihrer nne osketeen?Wohin bewegt sie sich nu? Wohin bewegen wr us? Fort von len Sonnen?

Strzen wr niht fortwhrend? Und ckwts seitwrs vorwts nach allenSeiten? Giebt es nh ein Oben und en Unten? Irren wr nich durch ein uendliches Nichs? Haucht uns nit der eere Ra ? Ist es nicht klter geworden? Komm nicht immerfot die cht und mehr Nacht? Mssen nicht aernen fren Vrmittage angezndet werden? Hren wr nh nichts von demrm der Tengber welche Gott begraben? Riehen wir nh nichts vonder Gttlchen Verwesung? auch Gter vewesen Gott ist tt Gott bleibttt Und w haben getdte Wie tsen wir uns, Mrder aller Mrder? Da Heiligste ud Mchtigste was die Wel bsher besass es ist unerunrn Mes verbute - wer wiht dies But vn uns ab? Mit welchemWasser knnten wir uns rengen? Welche Shnenfeern welche heige Spielewerden wr erfiden mssen? Is niht die Grsse dieser Tha zu goss fr uns?Mssen wr nicht seer zu Ge werden nur irer wrdig zu erschenen?Es gab nie ne grsre That - ud wer nur mmer nach us gebren wrdgehrt dieser Tha wlen in eine hhere Gehihte als ale Gehichtebier war ! - Hier hweg der toe Mensh und sa wieder ine Zuher anauch sie schwiegen und blickten befremde auf in. Endlich warf er seineatee auf den Boden dass sie in Stke brach ud eloh Ich komme zufrh, sagte er dann ich bn nh nicht an der Zet. Des ungeheu Eegnissist nh utewegs und wandet es st nch nicht is zu den Ohren der Menhe edrngen. Blitz ud Dnner brauchen Zet, das cht der Gestebrah Zei Thaten brauchen Zei auch nach dem sie getha sind gesehenund gehr zu weden Dese Tha s ihnen mme nh ferner as die feten

Gesine und doh haben e dee be gethan ! . . ." A VI A o pah Zaathuta, Von en drei Verwdungen 33-37: A .


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Z SH'S X S T AL M PR A V 37

Apolo. But Nietzsche's polecal rejeon of aditioal metaphysics

d cntexts, evident after The rth o Tragedy, is n itsef o i

maio The ion's prou sef-ffimation is sl bound n opposiioto the brde it had oe assmed In nsequence, the essene of this

metamohosis negation rage deso The ete reurece,

on the oer hand, helpe Nietzshe to see e wold new affm

it; achieve the prise nnene of the hd ofuy embracng

existee Nietzshe expeened the apoeosis of lfe "6,000 feet

beyond man d me

To overcome the puposelesess of becoming Nietzsche reedto his onstnt star Herlitus n aed e nic meg

fuless of the eteal ive: it is Heraclitus i whose compay I feel

better, more hee aywhere else 25 The oie of terl

recee, that is of the ucodited an nfitely repeated ir

ula of l ngs his ocine of Zrathusa's coud i the

f aalyss reay have been tau by Heralts At a mimu

there ae traes of it i the Stois, who ieted most l of hei

fundaetal ideas fom Heraclits

Since Nietzshe tended to view metaphysis a Platosm d the

histoy of Wese man as an holy lle of PlatocCrisianothewodess, e oeive may have e suggesed in pat

by Heraitus and e Stoics Spefily, e uene of Heralitus

d the Soics upon Niezhe's formulao of the de of etel

recuee ivolves (at least) for shaed prniples (1) mosm (2detem, 3) dietil uni of opposites throu sfe (4) ilism hasn to add tha e te "inuene is ot beng used

n a mehai caus sese here There is no evidece that Nie

she's done of etel recece was inuece by Herats ae Stois in e sese at Nietzshe discovere the doe there

and elaborated it to sut his own poses Where Nietzshe spes of

his done, in cce o, he merely scas e hisoy of philosophy

to establish his ow geelo The oept of ee rerene as

GOA X e Hoo 8 6000 Fss jens vo Meh d Zei" GOA aha X 239 Heali, in dessen he mr wrmer m

wohe me wr als igendwo ns . "26 X e Hoo, 6 De ehe vo der 'ewgen Wedenf as hess

vom engen d nendlch wedehoen Kesaf aller Dige . . deseehre Zaahsras nne zlez ach scho vo Herali gelehr worden n.Zm mses ha de Soa e fas le he gdszlchen Vorselngevon Heral gee ha, Spren avon


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38 H E H L O S O H Y O E E R N L R E C U R R E N C E

we ave lready een, came o Nezce le a fla n 1 8 8 . eerm iluence ere ed n e rericed ene of being a corib

uory caue A a clac plologi Nece wa oroy fa-ml w Heraclu and e Soc, and eir eacng probablyffeced e conex and momen of dcovery I ould o be nodpreneically, a we e no ere cnceed w demonangoe prncpe wc are pecifcay Heracliean a oppoed o

oe w wre added by comenaor for exple, efo abovemenoned pricple e cyclc neprea of ecomo wc Dogene er arbe o Herlu27 w noexplcy a by Heraclu. u e Soc nerpreaon ofHeracli Nezce fnd precror docrine of Za-rara cod e fnal analy redy ave been byHeracli A mnmu ere are race of in e Soc, woered mo ll of er fundamen dea from Heraclu."

e fo pncple uggeed above wc Nezce neried canbe exbed by brefly preening relevan elemen of Herclpoopy d e nerpreaon of e Soc o ak we owm

e nderlyng ubce of e como regarded by Heraclu fre order e ame for all ing no one of go or mena made bu wy w, and , and ever al be, an eerlvngfire, kindng ccordng o fxed meaure d exinging accordng fxed meaure 29 Fre ncreaed and eeal, e ie andme uff of wc e como con Fre eem o be boacive pave conung, flckerng, and anformg o eone d wle reainng an apparen deniy and peence of o. e one ubance fe a uperenuo princple lyngbend e world of appearance, bu raer, mmen All ngre excangd for fre d fire for a ig; a ware are excanged

Diog Laiu Bk. 4 9 8-1 2 Mlo C. Nahm Slio oa G hilooph New Yok: AppleoCeurCrofs, 94), p 96.

GOA ahla X Hoo, 65. Mo C. Nah, Slo o al G hilooph New Yok

AppleoCeuCofs 19), p 90 Cf G. S. Krk ad E Rae h

oa hilooph Cambdge Ues Pess 196 p. 199 'swold ode (he same of ) dd oe of gs o me mak bu ways wasad s ad sal be a eeasig e kdig measues ad goig ou meass.


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N E S C H ES E X S E N E R V E 9

for gold and gold fo waes" The process of the sfomation offire prceeds from e condensaon of te sun's fe nto water, nd

te subsequent sformation of water to er and he lteningflash:" The sfomations of fe ae fst of all sea d of thesea one half is erth, and one hf is litening fash." 31 Te pocess

of condensaon fom sunfie into wate and water to eth is he

downward way" whle a coresponding upward way is smulta

neously active e iquefacn of ea nto water water into vapoand vapor nto fe Oe nterestng featre of Heraitus' doctne is

hat ese two appaently opposed tsfomations, upward anddownwad, are conceived as fundamenty e Upward, down

ward, e way is one and e same." 32 The identty of opposites, ofocal coties, recurs in Heraclius Opposion untes. Fomwhat daws apt resuts the mot beautf hamony All in take

pace by sfe." 33 Men do not understd how at whch dawsaprt aees with itsef haon ies in e bendg back as for n

stce of e bow and of the yre." 34 The cosmos is One, and l apparent dscreenes is but a moment of e sefansfoaton of the

Unity into what appears as diversity: Thou shoudst unte ng whole

and things not wole, that which tends to ite and that which tendsto seprate, the haonous and the discordant fom l thn aises

the one and fo he one l ng" 35 It is s ogac conceponof e cosmos, at diversity ( the sense of sceetness) is but aspect of unity, which leads to asserons at on e sface, appe

contradctory God and bad ae e same. 6 Lfe and death dwoking d seepng, and youth and old age, ae e same for he

atter change and ae the foer d the foer change back to the

atte." 37 Gods are mots, men e immotas each iving in e

others' deah and dying i he othes lfe 38 Apparent paroxes

such as these, which helped to ean Heraclitus the ttle of the obsce," undoubtedy fascinated Niesche The demand fo fo

30 Mlt . Seecion fo a Gee hooph New York:Appleeufs 94) p. 90.

3 Ibid., fagme 2 p . 90. Ibid fagme 69, . 9233 Ibid. fagme 46 p. 91M Ibid. agme 45 p 9

Ibid., fagme 9, p . 9 Ibd., fagme 57 . 92.37 Ibid., fagme 78, p. 93 Ibid, fagme 67 92.


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40 H E H O S O H O E E R N A R E C U R R E N C E

cosstecy was, for Nietzsche, at best a Platoc" dervave mde

reity. The pority f chage becomng, as orgac selfasformato appeed to Netzsche Chage s the ltmately real You

could ot step wce e same rvers; fo oe d yet ohe watesare ever flowg o"39 I e same ves we step ad we do ot

step; we are ad we are ot"0 he armao of chge as ultmate

y e also etaled for Heracltus as deed t dd r Netsce, a

aw" of trasormati Natual chges are eglar ad harmo

ous, d ths eglarty s the Logos hngs, ques, relas

evets staos, are but momets" n a seam o stctured chage.

The structure s the Logos It should lso be ted that we are no

deg wth fou dferet etites 1) fre as the cosmc prcple2) paculars as sormatios of fe () e Logos as the law that asformato ad 4 particulas as cocrete expresss o

that Logos For Heracltus l four are oe ere s o uversal

e whch is ot at the same tme the selftrasormg parcular o

Logos whch is ot idetical wth its particula express: Gd s

day ad ght, wter ad summe, war ad peace, satety ad huger

but e assmes deret forms ust as whe cese is med with

cese everye gives hm he ame he pleases"

It would appear at huma behavo is also goveed by e LogosFor ey are absolutely destied . .:4 Ma le a ligh te

ight, is dled and put out." 3 As a expressi of te cosmc pri

cple, the s is ed ad exngshed Thus e metaphos lght, fre, d heat here emerge i relato to the sul as well: he

dy soul is wsest d best A dry beam the wsest ad best sulWhere e earth is dry the soul is wsest ad best.4 he most u

mned (dryest) soul is the soul most le the cosmc prcple re

For to souls it is death to become water ad or water t is death tobecome earth but water is fomed om earth ad from water,

soul. '5 This fragmet ties together e physical" ad behavialspects of beig. he fe-watee evolutos re the upwad

dowward way (the logos) of the Oe: Fre The soul, too is a part o

bd, fragens 12 p 91. bd. fagen 8 93.41 bd fagen 36 p. 91 bd fagen 63

92

3 bd fagen 77 p 93. bd., fagens 7476 93. bd. fagen 68, p 9.


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N E C H E X E E R V 41

ths cosc process and is deah for t "to become water. I s wisewhen "dry. Yet teresny eracits says "I is a delit soulso become we 6

This fraent is no desned o contrac thepreviousy quoted fraen. On he contray I suggests a heou's tendency s oward foly heneer a man gets dunk he s ledabou by a berless boy sumblng not knowg whier he goes forhs sou is we. 47 The mde s apparenly or and orance ts sou is dyg "Those who her without the power ounderstd are ke deaf men; the proverb holds re of hem Presen ey are abset 8

Heritus assertion of he primacy "lawfuless of becoming

and e mplcaon a ma oo a pa of he eteal stream anhs equaly a child of cosmc forces no doub affece Niescheshinking Bu he was equly impresed wth Heracltus accepance ofe esmy of or senses: ha ca be seen hear d leedhs I pe.9 Nezsches own aide oward Heractus ousde ofe conex of he ete recurrece drne wa made eplcit nThe Twght of the Idols

With the highest espect I accept the name of Heracts. When the

est of the hosophc fok ejected te testimony of te senses ecausethey showed utiplicity and change he eected thei testimony ecausethey sowed things as if thy had penence and unity Heaclitus toodd the senses an injustce hey le neithe in the wy the Eeatics e-ieved no as h eieved ey do not ie at al Wht we make of theitestmony tat aone intoduces ies; fo exampe the e of uty e eof tinghoo of sustance of manence. "Reason is the cse o osfication o the testimony of e senses Insofa as the senses showecomng passng away and change, tey do not e. But Heaclts wen etealy ght th his asseton that eing s epty fiction

he "ppaent wod is the o one the "tue wod is meey added ya e

4 Ib. rgnt 72 p. 92.7 Ibi. rgnt 73 p 92-9348 Ib agt 3 p 89.


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42 H E H O S O H O E E R R E C R R E C E

It wod appea, en, tht Niezsche's pay conscious ebt tHeracs nvoves e aion of chge as he re e nqufed rejecin of beg - the "ue wod. weve Netsche sasserted hat the cne f ete ecence could have been

tu by Heitus d at races f this trne ae pesent n the

Stocst s ue at eactus coul have tut such a ce

ou e dd not do so expicty. Hs coentatos nd Stc hei

cetany ut tat e had tught smeng ke dcne of ete

n ecurence Dogenes Laetus n atbtg a dcne f eteecurence t Hecs saized is teachngs s fows:

Coming o hs paricur tenes, e my sae them as folos: fre is eelement a ngs are exchange for fre and come nto beng b rarefacto nd condesto; but of ths he gves no cle expanaton A thingscome nto beg b confct of opposites and the sum of hngs fos kea stream. Furher, ll hat s s lmited ad forms one od nd t aeate bo from fre ad agai resoved into fre n fixed cces to letety, and s s determned b destiy61

The ce of ete recuence o some verson eef pays

a moe ect roe n Stoc out Heacius Netscescontenon ht aces of e dcne e snt n the Stoa s tcly rect Fo exampe Acs ascibs Zeno of Cue foowng vew

Zeno sad the undameta substne of a exstng things s fre sfolowg Herctus d e pnples of fe, he sad, were ate ndGod, ee follown Pato. But e assered tht te bot were bodes, actve d ssve, wheeas Pato sd hat he pmar acve cuse wascooreal. Next, the woe comos at eran fated perods s dissoved

b fire, and then aga ormed nto a wod. Now e ma e s le ind

heidegger's metahistory of philosophy

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