Nietzsche, Spir, and Time

Nietzsche, Spir, and Time ROBIN SMALL THE THEMEOF TIMEfigures quite prominently in Nietzsche's philosophy. It is a key element in his most important ideas, such as the doctrines of the will to power and the eternal recurrence. Most commentators, however, content themselves with noting the main features of Nietzsche's concept of time, without going into the more subde, but also more difficult, questions raised in an attempt to elaborate the concept in detail.' For instance, they observe that Nietzsche expressed a debt to Heraclitus, and indeed proclaimed himself an adherent of the Heraclitean doctrine of absolute becoming. Yet this is a doctrine which raises many problems. In this discussion I intend to explore some of these, by looking into the sources of his concept of time, and at his ~pproach to problems which, as we shall see, link him both with ancient traditions in philosophy and with thinkers of his own time. Nietzsche's commitment to the doctrine of becoming is expressed in many places in his writings, from his early lecture courses to his last notebook en-. tries. He often uses expressions such as "eternal flow" and "absolute flow" to signal the concept he has in mind., An eternal flow is one that has neither a beginning nor an end but extends throughout infinite time, both in the past and the future. An absolute flow is one that allows no exception to the rule of constant change. It cannot contain within itself any pause of the sort that an enduring substance, however brief its duration, would imply. The infinitude of becoming extends "downward," so to speak, as well as "upward."3 Nietzsche is willing to assert infinite divisibility, not just for time, but in a very general way. In his lectures onearly Greek thought, he says: "Nature isjust as infinite lTwo exceptions are Joan Stambaugh, The Problemof Time in Nietzsche,trans.John F. Humphrey (Lewishurg:Bucknell University Press, 1987),and A|istair Moles,Nietzsche'sPhilosophyof Nature and Cosmolo~ (NewYork, Peter Lang, 199o). 9See, e.g., Nietzsche, Kritische Gesanaausgabe: Werke (hereafter KGW),ed. G. Colli and M. Montinari (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1973-), V/2:397-4m and 452; VII/l: 14o;and VII/2: 16t. sThis wayof putting it is due to G. A. Morgan,Jr., What Nietz.~cheMeans (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UniversityPress, 1941),28o. [85] 86 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 32:1 JANUARY ~994 inwardly as outwardly: we now get as far as the cell and the parts of the cell: but there is no limit at which one could say that here is the last point inwards: becoming never ceases, into the infinitely small.'~ Ten years later, in the poetic "prelude" to The Gay Science, he repeats the assertion: "Infinite is the smallest piece of the worldl'~ The case of time is different in one respect for Nietzsche, since he is prepared to allow that it is infinitely great as well as infinitely divisible. Apart from that, he takes the world to be finite in all its features, and even asserts the finitude of space.6 In the case of time, he also asserts on several occasions that "time is infinitely divisible."7 Finally, he refers to "the absolute momentariness of the will to power. "s What influences can we detect in these statements? First and foremost, no doubt, there is that of Heraclitus.9 But for any elaboration of the doctrine of becoming, we must look elsewhere. The problem here is that few later thinkers have considered the idea in its uncompromising form as worthy of serious consideration, and even fewer have been willing to adopt it as an account of reality, if only on an experimental basis. Nevertheless, Nietzsche did find in the work of one contemporary philosopher a useful treatment of absolute becoming. I. NIETZSCHE AND SPIR African Spir (1837--189 o) is a more interesting writer than his lack of continuing reputation would suggest. ~~A Russian officer who served in the Crimean War, he retired on a private income to Germany and later Switzerland, in order to pursue an interest in philosophy. Working outside the university system, Spir published a number of books in German and French. H The most...