Nietzsche on Loneliness, Self-Transformation, and the Eternal Recurrence

Abstract

Nietzsche's presentation of the eternal recurrence in Gay Science 341 is often viewed as a practical thought experiment meant to radically transform us. But exactly why and how we are supposed to be transformed is not clear. I contend that addressing these issues requires taking a close look at the psychological setting of the passage. The eternal recurrence is presented in our “loneliest loneliness.” I argue that facing the eternal recurrence from a state of profound loneliness both motivates self-transformation and contributes toward helping us succeed at that project.

What Makes the Affirmation of Life Difficult?

“…(My own view: I think it's clear that Nietzsche is attracted to the cosmological claim, but cannot find a satisfactory way of establishing it, and hence presents eternal recurrence in his published works merely as a hypothetical.) 6 Remhof (2018) argues that part of what makes the affirmation of eternal recurrence difficult is its psychological setting: we are supposed to confront the thought of recurrence at the moment of our "loneliest loneliness" (GS 341). Remhof suggests that facing recurrence "from a state of severe loneliness significantly amplifies the likelihood of eliciting a negative response " (2018: 196).…”

Loneliness, Love, and the Limits of Language

“…In cases like this, in which our loneliness is recalcitrant and we feel lonely without necessarily being self‐reflexively aware of it, our loneliness might bear an epistemic or practical, existential or political value because it calls us out of our self‐less existence. At the same time, however, (the fear of) our own loneliness might be what drives us further into this self‐denying form of purely social existence (Remhof 2018, 203–4).…”

“…On the epistemic level, it may be that loneliness, when it results from a perceived failure to express ourselves adequately to our friends, colleagues, or in a larger social context, provides an opportunity to clarify our awareness of what precisely it is that longs to be more completely expressed or realized. In doing so, loneliness provides an opportunity to gain insight into the values we aspire to realize and the person we aspire to be—even if these values are in tension with those held by our friends, colleagues, or society (Becker 1974; Remhof 2018, 199–200). Loneliness therefore may foster not only self‐awareness but also social criticism.…”

“…Loneliness therefore may foster not only self‐awareness but also social criticism. On the practical level, loneliness can motivate and enable personal and social transformation (Świeżyński 2016; Remhof 2018). As an alienation from shared values, loneliness can allow a person to define and embrace his or her individual meaning and, if necessary, criticize social norms and values.…”

“…Although loneliness intuitively can be classified as an affective phenomenon, apart from some notable exceptions (Koch 1983; McGraw 1995; Ben‐Ze’ev 2000, 470–71; Mijuskovic 2015; Svendsen 2017; Roberts and Krueger 2021) the phenomenon of loneliness has been generally neglected in this field. In addition to the aforementioned works within philosophy of emotions, loneliness occasionally is explored from the perspective of particular thinkers, such as Friedrich Nietzsche (Remhof 2018), Hannah Arendt (Lucas 2019), or Martin Heidegger and Hans‐Georg Gadamer (Costache 2013). Also, the ethical or political dimensions of loneliness have attracted interest (Stauffer 2015).…”