Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 00:31:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Daniel Barnaby Gibson <dbg4284-AT-is2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: RE: Eternal Recurrence


On Sat, 22 Apr 1995 RWINKLE-AT-ccmail.sunysb.edu wrote:

> Hey, I posted this before and didn't get any response.  Nevertheless, I'd 
> like to know why it is that everyone is so interested in e.r.  Where, 
> besides The Will to Power does this become an important part of N.'s 
> philosophy.  Sometimes I think that the only thing profound about e.r. is 
> the way it keeps coming up in this discussion group.  All I would like 
> to know (and I'm not being sarcastic) is why people want to make an issue 
> out of this.  What about it is that interesting in the context of the 
> rest of N.'s work?
> 
> Rick Winkle
> Dept. of Phil
> SUNY Stony BRook

	I think part of the reason is the hyperbole with which Nietzsche 
himself refers to the eternal return.  He speaks of it as a concept which 
weighs heavily on his mind. 

	"[snip] . . . must we not eternally return?"
	Thus I spoke, more and more softly; for I was afraid of my own 
thoughts and the thoughts behind my thoughts. (ON THE VISION AND THE 
RIDDLE - from ZARATHUSTRA)


	etc... there are many passages like this, including a reference to the 
concept as "terrible" (as in 'great and terrible', of course, not as in 
'a silly idea').  Now, the fact that Nietzsche finds this an interesting 
idea doesn't necessarily indicate that we will find it as valuable as he 
did.  Nevertheless, if we find Nietzsche important and he thought the 
concept important, it behooves us to try to understand the concept.  Thru 
the effort, we increase our understanding of the entire project (and 
likewise, our understanding of the project informs our reading of the 
eternal return).  

	In addition, I think the eternal return is valuable because it is 
so ambiguous, because it can be read in so many ways - as such, it is a 
natural spur to interpretation.  I like to think of it as an aphoristic 
concept, one that needs a tremendous amount of fleshing out and 
rediscovery, reconstruction.  (On the cynical side, haven't you noticed 
that people love to argue most about the things they can be least sure 
about? )


Daniel Barnaby Gibson
NYU School of Law	
	


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