PrescriptiveExistential
If we could undo it
On the axis: Relation to the past · an ordeal
If an ordeal could be erased, should it be, knowing that it made the person we have become? Is refusing one's past, at bottom, wanting to be someone else?
Philosophers' positions
Major
−0.9
Justification
works as a test: if a demon told you that you will relive this very life, identically, infinitely, would you curse him, or would it be your greatest joy? To say yes to every instant is : not 's resignation, but the highest affirmation, to love the necessary so much that one wills its eternal return.
My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity.Ecce Homo, "Why I Am So Clever", §10
Ecce Homo, "Why I Am So Clever", §10 · The Gay Science, §276 and §341
Positions over time
The philosophers positioned on the axis “Relation to the past”, over time. Hover a dot to read its name.
This problem's anchors
Anchors: Nietzsche