The eternal return that Nietzsche talks about

Starting from the famous phrase God is dead, Nietzsche aims to explain a complex principle briefly. It expresses that human beings are prepared to stop believing in a higher entity, a shepherd of the flock that would lead to the devaluation of supreme values ​​and the moral law. In contrast, he understands that the individual, with a superman attitude that rejects the morality of the herd, manages to take charge of his own life, moving away from the deterministic vision of existence.

His revolutionary thought challenges the Christian conception that governed the Western world and Thus it opens the possibility of seeing the world and individuals from another perspective. What do you mean by eternal return? What is the value of this doctrine?

Who was Nietzsche?

We are talking about one of the most relevant Western philosophers of the 19th century. Friedrich Nietzsche was born in 1844 in Germany. His mother wanted him to be a pastor, so twenty years later he entered the University of Bonn to study Theology.. However, despite his mother’s discontent, the following year he moved to the University of Leipzig to study Classical Philology.

Influenced by the thoughts of Arthur Schopenhauer and the music of Richard Wagner, he began to become interested in Philosophy and ended up creating revealing works. Among the most notable are The Birth of Tragedy by the Spirit of Music, Thus Spoke Zaratrusta and The Gay Science.

In his works he develops his interpretation of the tragedy in Ancient Greece, the death of God, the end of religion as a model of values ​​in modern society and the eternal return. From its nihilistic point of view, Christianity invented an ideal, non-existent world that does nothing but limit the freedom of individuals.

At the end of 1889, He suffers an irreversible mental collapse and, with obvious signs of madness, is hospitalized. at the psychiatric clinic in Basel. Mentally deteriorating, he isolates himself in a family home that he shared with his sister Elisabeth in Weimar. He died on August 25, 1900.

Nietzsche is one of the most important philosophers of Western philosophy.

Time from a cultural conception

How do we understand time? Like an arrow. That is, with a beginning (past), with a present and with a final consummation (theologically named as the end of time).

For the Greeks, time was circular, cyclical. They used two words to refer to time: k airós and chronos. The word kairós represents the timely and deeply relevant time that occurs in gromos time (chronological time, time that simply passes).

To be in kairos is to feel in tune with the present moment. In simple words, it is about making conscious decisions in the here and now. It is taking ownership of one’s own life and understanding that it is not chance or the work of destiny.

Nietzsche expresses that we have normalized a conception of time that is based on the ideas of Christianity and suggests that we must leave the idea of ​​time in the shape of an arrow, because this eschatological view makes us always wait for something wonderful, paying the price. of living a life other than others or far from one’s own desires. It proposes to authentically love life, regardless of a promising future. and assume that the entirety of life is in the present.

For Nietzsche, the present is everything.

The Eternal Return of Nietzsche

This idea does not take for granted the possibility of living in infinite cycles. It is a hypothetical question rather than a fact. It is not presented in terms of reincarnation, but rather it is supposed to be a reflective test for one’s own will and existence.

The deniers of this conception suggest that things happen by destiny or chance, and that they do not depend on one. For them, life is cruel and unfair, waiting for heavenly paradise. In this sense, it is believed that life as such is not worth it, and that it would only make sense in the future.

Instead, Nietzsche draws on the existential principle that life ends to raise the importance of not focusing our life expectations on a future promise. Rather, it proposes to live the present with such intensity that we want to repeat it with the good and the bad, the joys and the pain.. The modern motto would be enjoy the present so much that you want to live it again.

It is an affirmation of life, since the eternal return is built in each decision, in every instant. Through this concept, Nietzsche tries to call upon the human will. This is the doctrine of life of the superman, willing to overthrow the morality decreed by Christianity, together with flocks that obey and shepherds who preach, and create a new morality in which man is his own judge and executioner.

Is the life you are living worth living over and over again? What are you doing with your moments, those that are lost once lived? What would you like to change?

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