Eternal Recurrence

The engaging concept of the eternal recurrence may be traced back to cosmic speculations in ancient Greece and early thought in the philosophies of India. This idea focuses on time, maintaining that it is essentially cyclical (rather than linear) in nature. Over the centuries, some serious thinkers have held that this finite universe has been, and will be, returning in exactly the same way; thus for them, reality is an infinite series of identical universes. This assumption that our universe is forever a repeating circle of objects, events, and relationships has far-reaching consequences for science, philosophy, and theology. This intriguing concept of time has appeared in major works of world literature, and it is also referred to in modern lyrics and major films.

In antiquity, the eternal return may be found in die thoughts of the Pythagoreans and the Stoics, as well as in Hindu and, later, Buddhist speculations on time. Among the Presocratic philosophers, Heraclitus developed a version of the eternal recurrence. He taught that the flux of reality is endless, but within it everything returns forever in an [Page 436]infinite series of finite cycles: Night and day follow each other, as do the lunar phases and the four seasons of the year. Likewise, life and death are followed by rebirth. On the cosmic scale, the whole universe returns periodically. Heraclitus's dynamic view of the world greatly influenced several process thinkers who came later, especially German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in the 19th century.

If true, then the idea of an eternal recurrence of the same raises profound questions concerning metaphysics and ethics; for example, if our universe is strictly determined, then can there be human freedom in the world? This idea also challenges the concepts of identity, causality, and creativity. Even though it is an extreme point of view, the eternal recurrence remains a unique frame of reference for making value judgments.

In recent philosophy, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) grounded his own worldview in the eternal recurrence of the same, thereby reviving this perspective in serious thought. In fact, it is his central idea. This concept came to him as a result of a fortuitous summer visit to Switzerland. In early August of 1881, while staying in Sils-Maria of the Upper Engadine, Nietzsche took a walk through the wooded Swiss Alps and along the lake of Silvaplana. The philosopher tells us that, while walking alone in deep thought not far from Surlei, he unexpectedly came upon a huge pyramidal rock in his path. Suddenly, in a flash of intuition “6000 feet beyond man and time” (as he put it), the restless thinker experienced a new vision of reality far superior (so he thought) to those views that had been presented by all other philosophers. Nietzsche's instant grasp of the colossal idea of the eternal recurrence made him delirious with joy, as he claimed that this concept would justify his own iconoclastic interpretation of ultimate reality, a worldview that he had been developing over the previous years.

Nietzsche had undertaken a rigorous réévaluation of all values, with alarming results. His scathing criticisms of Western civilization (especially Christianity) concluded that those basic ideas and entrenched beliefs that underpin the modern socio-cultural milieu are actually false and have therefore been responsible for reducing human beings to a pitiful mediocrity. Claiming that “God is dead!” but overcoming nihilism, Nietzsche now desired to give to humankind a new philosophy that focused on the value of affirming life in general, and he gave priority to those superior individuals who are capable of impressive creativity.

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