Love of fati and eternal recurrence in book IV of “The gay science”: an aesthetic interpretation of existence

Abstract

The present article’s main objective is to investigate the nuances of the relation established between the notion of love of fate and the thought of the eternal recurrence as they appear in book IV of “The gay science” (1882), work of Friedrich Nietzsche. The affirmative sense of this work, which is expressed in a poetic and artistic way, allows us to start the analysis of the questions to be explored from an aesthetic perspective. We intend, therefore, to approach the different meanings of the concept of art in Nietzsche’s philosophy in order to better understand the concept of life as a work of art – from that, thinking possible ways of articulation between the notion of life as a work of art and the communication of love of fate and the eternal recurrence as constituent parts of the project of transvaluation of values. This research facilitates a better understanding of the possible relation that the philosopher establishes between the notion of love of fate – which takes place in the first aphorism of book IV – and the thought of the eternal recurrence – which is announced in the penultimate aphorism of the same book. Therefore, the article investigates to what extent and how the mutual crossing of both concepts occurs and its relevance in the general framework of Nietzsche’s philosophy.