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> The Eternal Return is another Ancient/Pythagorean concept that has been hotly debated over the past 2600 years. Short of popularizing the concept, Nietzsche h
by division_by_0 3y ago
> The Eternal Return is another Ancient/Pythagorean concept that has been hotly debated over the past 2600 years. Short of popularizing the concept, Nietzsche has not contributed much to the debate, and his words on the topic are far from definitive.
I think what Nietzsche is doing beyond popularizing the concept is establishing its strange relationship to nihilism ("Das ist die extremste Form des Nihilismus: das Nichts (das „Sinnlose“) ewig!"[0]) and its life-enhancing qualities: It is life-enhancing because it is impossible to live with it. This may sound strange, but this is the essence of Nietzsche's "pessimism of strength" concept.
[0] NF-1886,5[71]