Abstract

An interesting, important, and well-written interpretation of Nietzsche’s doctrine of eternal recurrence. The first chapter, in addition to providing a useful summary of Nietzsche’s philosophy under the topics of nihilism, morality, Christianity, will-to-power, the Ubermensch, [[sic]] and eternal recurrence, emphasizes Nietzsche’s understanding of the crisis of Western civilization. The root of that crisis is nihilism, itself a product of Western civilization, or more specifically, of Platonism and Christianity. Plato’s rejection of the phenomenal or sensory world in the name of the supersensory world of "ideas" culminates in nihilism once it becomes impossible to accept the concept of a truth independent of history. The practical result of nihilism is the "last man," the man who knows that God is dead, but so little understands what that means as to be cheerfully complacent about it. Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence and Ubermensch [[sic]] are intended to overcome this "passive" nihilism. The chapter ends with two questions that animate almost half of the remaining text: Is the doctrine of eternal recurrence empirically true, and did Nietzsche believe it to be true?