Nietzsche's Philosophy of the Eternal Recurrence of the SameThis long overdue English translation of Karl Löwith's magisterial study is a major event in Nietzsche scholarship in the Anglo-American intellectual world. Its initial publication was extraordinary in itself--a dissident interpretation, written by a Jew, appearing in National Socialist Germany in 1935. Since then, Löwith's book has continued to gain recognition as one of the key texts in the German Nietzsche reception, as well as a remarkable effort to reclaim the philosopher's work from political misappropriation. For Löwith, the centerpiece of Nietzsche's thought is the doctrine of eternal recurrence, a notion which Löwith, unlike Heidegger, deems incompatible with the will to power. His careful examination of Nietzsche's cosmological theory of the infinite repetition of a finite number of states of the world suggests the paradoxical consequences this theory implies for human freedom. How is it possible to will the eternal recurrence of each moment of one's life, if both this decision and the states of affairs governed by it appear to be predestined? Löwith's book, one of the most important, if seldom acknowledged, sources for recent Anglophone Nietzsche studies, remains a central text for all concerned with understanding the philosopher's work. |
Contents
Foreword to the First Edition | 3 |
The Division of Nietzsches Writings into Periods | 21 |
3 | 27 |
4 | 98 |
5 | 122 |
6 | 137 |
7 | 156 |
The Critical Yardstick for Nietzsches Experiment | 174 |
ON THE HISTORY OF | 195 |
REFERENCES | 231 |
vii | 250 |
TRANSLATORS NOTES | 259 |
273 | |
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Common terms and phrases
abyss accident already amor fati ancient aphorism atheism attempt backworld Baeumler become beginning Birth of Tragedy characterizes Christian concept consciousness contradiction cosmic critique death decisive Descartes destiny Dionysian Dionysus divine earth Ecce Homo eter eternal recurrence ethical everything existence faith fate final freedom Friedrich Nietzsche future Gay Science German goal Greek Hegel Heidegger Heraclitus highest hilism human idea interpretation Jaspers Kant Kierkegaard Klages liberated live longer Löwith means metaphysics modern moral movement natural world necessity Nietz Nietzsche Nietzsche's philosophy Nietzsche's teaching nihilism noon noon and eternity one's oneself opposite original overcome parable path perfect possible precisely problem question redeem redemption rence repetition revaluation ring says sche sche's self-overcoming shadow snake soul speak spirit Stirner superhuman superman temporal tence things Thou shalt thought thustra tion truth Untimely Meditation values wanderer wants Weininger whole Zara Zarathustra