Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Nature and Cosmology

Nietzsche’s doctrine of the "eternal recurrence of the same"—the conception that the universe of events repeats itself in the same sequence, to infinity—is often taken to be logically incoherent: if an event recurs, it is not identically the same as the event itself, and if taken as self-identical cannot be the recurrence of anything. This book offers a new interpretation of the doctrine so as to rescue it from the charge of incoherence. It shows that the doctrine is an outgrowth of ideas found in Nietzsche’s philosophy of nature, among them that space is Riemannian (finite yet without external boundary) and that time is relative to events, not an independently existing continuum which underlies events.

"Moles’ book is an impressive attempt to work out the cosmology suggested by Nietzsche’s numerous but scattered observations and suggestions concerning force, space, time, power and power-relationships, and culminating in his conception of the world in terms of ‘will to power’ and in his idea of ‘eternal recurrence.’ This book is a welcome contribution to the literature, and will have to be reckoned with by anyone who is concerned to do justice to the full range of Nietzsche’s philosophical thinking."—Richard Schacht, Executive Director, North American Nietzsche Society; Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"In this book, Alistair Moles brings to light a dimension of Nietzsche’s philosophy which most past commentators have neglected. He carries out a thorough exploration of Nietzsche’s conception of nature, presenting a coherent picture which he manages to link both with classical philosophy and with modern science. Drawing on the whole range of Nietzsche’s writings, his account shows an impressive depth of detail and scholarship. However, it also goes well beyond exposition. The concepts of force and space receive a particularly subtle and satisfying elaboration, which leads to the high point of the book: a highly original reconstruction of the controversial doctrine of eternal recurrence. This chapter alone deserves to give rise to much discussion among Nietzsche scholars. The book as a whole should serve to counter a tendency to see Nietzsche only in terms of the concerns of moral, political or literary theory. It helps us to recognize him as a compete philosopher, and in doing so it makes a major contribution to our understanding of this important thinker."—Robin Small, Monash University