University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School April 2021 Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis William A. B. Parkhurst University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Philosophy Commons Scholar Commons Citation Parkhurst, William A. B., "Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis" (2021). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/8839 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis by William A. B. Parkhurst A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Joshua Rayman, Ph.D. Lee Braver, Ph.D. Vanessa Lemm, Ph.D. Alex Levine, Ph.D. Date of Approval: February 16th, 2021 Keywords: Fredrich Nietzsche, Eternal Recurrence, History of Philosophy, Continental Philosophy Copyright © 2021, William A. B. Parkhurst Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, Carol Hyatt Parkhurst (RIP), who always believed in my education even when I did not. I am also deeply grateful for the support of my father, Peter Parkhurst, whose support in varying avenues of life was unwavering. I am also deeply grateful to April Dawn Smith. It was only with her help wandering around library basements that I first found genetic forms of diplomatic transcription. Additionally, without her incredible patience in editing this and other publications, I would not be able to defend this dissertation. Acknowledgments I am grateful to the Linda Hall Library, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which provided me the archival fellowships and resources necessary to complete this dissertation. Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. i List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Abbreviations of Nietzsche Works Translated in English ............................................................. vi Abbreviations of German Editions ................................................................................................ ix Abstract ............................................................................................................................................x Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Does Nietzsche have a "Nachlass"? ............................................................................12 1. Introduction: What is a Method? ...................................................................................15 2. A Dangerous Supplement: The Priority Principle and the Demarcation Problem ........18 2.1 The Debate in Broad Strokes ...........................................................................23 3. What does the "Nachlass" Contain? ..............................................................................25 4. Implicit Demarcation Criterion ......................................................................................32 4.1. Publication ......................................................................................................33 4.2. Authorization ..................................................................................................33 4.3 Public Presentation of "Publicness" .................................................................35 4.4 Audience ..........................................................................................................36 5. On the Demarcation Problem .........................................................................................37 5.1 Publication .......................................................................................................38 5.2 Authorization ...................................................................................................42 5.3 Public Presentation...........................................................................................47 5.4 Audience ..........................................................................................................50 5.5 Unintuitive Couther Examples to All Four Criteria .........................................53 6. The Nachlass Debate in German Scholarship ...............................................................56 6.1 Genetic and Intertextual Interpretations ...........................................................60 6.2 Research Without False Dichotomies ..............................................................63 7. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................70 Chapter 3: Nietzsche Reading of Plato ..........................................................................................72 1. Nietzsche's Engagement with Plato: A Problem of Methodology .................................77 2. Orienting and Approach Without Annotations ..............................................................78 3. Nietzsche's Reading of Plato: Identity and Recurrence of the Great Year ....................84 i 3.1 Nietzsche Reading of Plato ..............................................................................88 3.2 Nietzsche's Coursework and Teaching of Plato ...............................................92 3.3 Theaetetus: The Law of Identity ....................................................................103 3.4 Timaeus: The Platonic Great Year .................................................................105 3.5 Plato's Parmenides .........................................................................................108 4. Figures..........................................................................................................................116 Chapter 4: Nietzsche's Reading and Critique of Aristotle ...........................................................120 1. Nietzsche's Teaching and Reading of Aristotle ...........................................................125 2. Aristotle and Eternal Recurrence .................................................................................132 3. The Principle of Identity in the Metaphysics ...............................................................135 4. Nietzsche's Continued Engagement with Aristotle's Metaphysics ..............................141 5. Figures..........................................................................................................................161 6. Tables ...........................................................................................................................162 Chapter 5: Eternal Recurrence: Genesis, Nihilism, and Disgust .................................................167 1. Genetic Analysis ..........................................................................................................168 1.1. Genesis of GS 341 ........................................................................................173 1.2. Genesis of BGE 56........................................................................................181 2. Eternal Recurrence Reduces Logic to Epistemological Nihilism ................................196 3. Eternal Recurrence and the Rejection of Disgust ........................................................216 Chapter 6: Conclusion..................................................................................................................250 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................262 Appendices ...................................................................................................................................290 Appendix A: Permission to Publish StABS Erziehung X 34 ..........................................291 Appendix B: Permission from The Agonist to Republish "Zarathustra's Disgust: Rejecting the Foundation of Western Metaphysics" ..................................................292 Appendix C: Permission from Nietzsche-Studien to Republish "Does Nietzsche have a 'Nachlass'?", "Nachweis aus Friedrich Ueberweg, Uber die Platonische Weltseele, in: Rhenisches Museum 9 (1854)", and "Dating Nietzsche's Lecture Notes for the Pre- Platonic Philosophers" ...............................................................................................293 ii List of Tables 1. Table 4.1 – Annotations in Nietzsche's Persona Copy of Aristoteles Werke ...........................162 iii List of Figures Figure 2.1: From the first edition of HAH I 431............................................................................55 Figure 2.2: Nachlass 1885, 36[54 and 36[55], KGW VI 3.296-297 compared with KGW IX 4,