Nietzsche Eternal Return

This essay will discuss Friedrich Nietzsche’s notion of the eternal return and how it will help us to understand the character of the Overman. For Nietzsche, the eternal return symbolises the significance of here and now; it wills the biggest affirmation possible, while the character of the Overman symbolises the ability to rethink our values and move away from heard mentality by risk taking and constant experiment. Due to the complexity of Nietzsche’s work, it is important to understand his concepts in detail in order to link and compare them. Therefore, I will first introduce Nietzsche as a philosopher of affirmation, before defining Nietzsche’s character of the Overman and his notion of the eternal return and in more detail. This will be

This is someone with no ideologies, who does not takes the opportunity to revaluate values, does not take risks and accepts things for what they are. This is a state of passive Nihilism and someone that Nietzsche wants to warn us of. The Overman is the opposite of this condition of man and what we need to move towards. The Overman has the ability to rethink values in the face of Nihilism, of which it is conscious of, as well as the death of God. The Overman is characterised by freedom and independence and is open to taking risks. The Overman is transcendental and something that we have to strive towards through constant experimentation. Such ‘an individual who could reject the ‘God hypothesis’, who could look the truths of pessimism in the face and still say ‘Yes’ to life, would cease to be an ordinary human; such an individual would in fact become a Superhuman.’ (Southwell, 2009, p.145) Yet still, this freedom must be thought about carefully as it consists of self-appropriation and free spirit. Nietzsche is against the concept of human beings having free will. He believes instead that we are somewhat determined as we are answerable to our bodies and social institutions. Nevertheless, we still have a choice and the possibility to create and shape our life by moving away from the heard mentality of the last man, towards the promising stage of the Overman. We should be open to the forces of life but

We exist here and now and should act accordingly. Consequently, this thought terrifies Zarathustra – ‘Thus I spoke, and I spoke more and more softly; for I was afraid of my own thoughts and reservations.’ (Nietzsche, 1974, p.179) This sense of determinism can cause feelings of Nihilism. Yet still, since there is no priority to the past of future, it can be argued that everything is open to come. Even though we carry history, we can now act in a different way to change our character, hopefully for the better. Both the past and the future hinge on the significance of there here and now - ‘the eternal recurrence, it seems, is inseparable from a philosophy of will – transforming ‘it was’ into ‘I wanted it thus’ – that promises a radically revised relationship between past and present and a new art of living.’ (Spinks, 2003, p.125) In summary, Nietzsche’s notion of the eternal return symbolises the present moment with awareness that we are determined by the past but our actions now can change the future. We have to act now to break through; it is only our willingness now that can break patterns of behaviour. The eternal return is ‘a world without any hope, which would test your ability to enjoy only the current moment – whatever that may contain. Such an existence is a test of how positive and strong a person’s attitude to life is.’ (Southwell, 2008, p.145) It would take a strong person, seemingly the character of