Arguments Against Eternal Return
Nietzsche scholar Walter Kaufmann has described an argument originally put forward by Georg Simmel, which rebuts the claim that a finite number of states must repeat within an infinite amount of time:
Even if there were exceedingly few things in a finite space in an infinite time, they would not have to repeat in the same configurations. Suppose there were three wheels of equal size, rotating on the same axis, one point marked on the circumference of each wheel, and these three points lined up in one straight line. If the second wheel rotated twice as fast as the first, and if the speed of the third wheel was 1/π of the speed of the first, the initial line-up would never recur.
Read more about this topic: Eternal Return
Famous quotes containing the words arguments, eternal and/or return:
“We are seeing an increasing level of attacks on the selfishness of women. There are allegations that all kinds of social ills, from runaway children to the neglected elderly, are due to the fact that women have left their rightful place in the home. Such arguments are simplistic and wrongheaded but women are especially vulnerable to the accusation that if society has problems, its because women arent nurturing enough.”
—Grace Baruch (20th century)
“The birds their quire apply; airs, vernal airs,
Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune
The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
Led on th eternal Spring.”
—John Milton (16081674)
“Real kindness seeks no return;
What return can the world make to rain clouds?”
—Tiruvalluvar (c. 5th century A.D.)