The evolution of the idea of circular motion and cyclicity in the European Worldview: the Nietzschean context

In various cultures, including European ones, since the time of Plato and Aristotle, discussions about the perfection, greatness of the Cosmos and the rotation of its luminaries have undergone a certain evolution. They are especially relevant today because they strongly and steadily remind us of the conceptual possibility of self-improvement. The purpose of our work is to studythe evolution of ideas about circular motion and cyclicity in the European worldview in a cultural and historical context, in the light of the idea of F. Nietzsche’s eternal return. Our methodology for studying the circular motion of celestial bodies in European culture is based on a phenomenological approach in the aspect of cultural and historical, on the borderline of cultural philosophy and ontology. The phenomenology of circular motion concepts in different historical epochs takes us to the territory of deep ontology, where there are extrahuman instances. The loss of connection with the divine authority, the loss of understanding of nature as φίσις, and the expulsion of all transcendence from the human world are marked by Nietzsche’s meta-narrative – «God is dead». As a result, instead of a vivid understanding of time and the symbolism of cyclic motion, circular motion is interpreted as a special idealization, an abstract scheme, which is reflected in the works of Jean Baudrillard. The orbital metaphor is especially important here – all objects have entered a symbolic orbit. There is an «orbital» transformation of things, values and consciousness. The main thing in such a transformation is the transition from the state of the human world, from quite tangible physical quantities to a space-time simulation, a hyperreal world. It is no longer so much «things» that circulate, as quanta of energy, «bits» of information, and pulses of electronic signals. The ideal structures of technology and mass media have replaced the perfection of the cosmic world order in its ancient understanding and the sense of the living presence of God, as it was in the Middle Ages. We have established that it is very promising today to rethink the meaning of Nietzsche’s idea of eternal return. It is revealed that it is more productive than the idea of universal circular motion and orbitality, sheds light on the true meaning of the teleology and semantics of circular motion, focusing not on the abstract contemplation of existence, but on the need for further improvement of man himself. It is demonstrated that the symbolism of man’s inescapable desire for immortality and indomitable movement towards perfection is reflected in the idea of eternal return, which reveals the meaning of the idea of universal circular motion in the universe from an anthropological point of view. The prospects for further study of Nietzsche’s doctrine of eternal return consist in updating the doctrine of man in his new capacity, giving a lesson in anthropological optimism, faith in the further development of the human project.