What does eternal return mean?

Definitions for eternal return
eter·nal re·turn

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word eternal return.

Wiktionary

  1. eternal returnnoun

    Eternal recurrence.

Wikipedia

  1. Eternal return

    Eternal return (or eternal recurrence) is a philosophical concept which states that time repeats itself in an infinite loop, and that exactly the same events will continue to occur in exactly the same way, over and over again, for eternity. In ancient Greece, the concept of eternal return was most prominently associated with Stoicism, the school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium. The Stoics believed that the universe is periodically destroyed and reborn, and that each universe is exactly the same as the one before. This doctrine was fiercely refuted by Christian authors such as Augustine, who saw in it a fundamental denial of free will and of the possibility of salvation. The global spread of Christianity therefore brought an end to classical theories of eternal return. The concept was revived in the 19th century by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Having briefly presented the idea as a thought experiment in The Gay Science, he explored it more thoroughly in his novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which the protagonist learns to overcome his horror of the thought of eternal return. It is not known whether Nietzsche believed in the literal truth of eternal return, or, if he did not, what he intended to demonstrate by it. Nietzsche's ideas were subsequently taken up and re-interpreted by other writers, such as Russian esotericist P. D. Ouspensky, who argued that it was possible to break the cycle of return.

Wikidata

  1. Eternal return

    Eternal return is a concept that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space. The concept is found in Indian philosophy and in ancient Egypt and was subsequently taken up by the Pythagoreans and Stoics. With the decline of antiquity and the spread of Christianity, the concept fell into disuse in the Western world, though Friedrich Nietzsche resurrected it as a thought experiment to argue for amor fati. In addition, the philosophical concept of eternal recurrence was addressed by Arthur Schopenhauer. It is a purely physical concept, involving no supernatural reincarnation, but the return of beings in the same bodies. Time is viewed as being not linear but cyclical.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of eternal return in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of eternal return in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9


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"eternal return." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/eternal+return>.

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