Nietzsche Vs Kundera: The Question of Eternal Recurrence

Imagine Friedrich Nietzsche and Milan Kundera sitting across from each other in a vintage coffee shop, pondering the concept of eternal recurrence. I have imagined this interaction countless times in my head. Now let me write it down here.

For Nietzsche, the idea of eternal recurrence was like a thought experiment. Imagine, he’d say, if a demon whispered in your ear that you’d have to live your life over and over, eternally. How would you react? Would you be devastated or would you embrace it? Nietzsche believed that if one could affirm life in the face of this idea, it was the ultimate embrace of life, an affirmation of everything in it — the good, the bad, and the ugly. For him, this was the highest form of life affirmation, essentially saying, "Yes, I’d live it all again."

Milan Kundera, on the other hand, approached the idea in a more literary and playful manner. In his novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", Kundera juxtaposes the notions of "lightness" and "weight". To Kundera, if eternal recurrence is real, then every action has weight and significance. But if it’s not, then everything is fleeting, or "light". Kundera uses this duality to examine love, politics, and personal choices.

Let’s compare the two ideas and examines their consequences on one’s life.

Imagine a woman named Jane who works a job she’s not passionate about and is in a lukewarm relationship. Every day is mundane and she feels life is just passing her by.

If she were to confront the idea of eternal recurrence, Nietzsche would want her to live her life in such a way that she could affirm it, and say "Yes" to reliving the exact same moments eternally. This could potentially lead her to make more deliberate choices, to seek a job she’s passionate about, and to either invest more deeply in her relationship or seek a more fulfilling one. Nietzsche’s idea is a call to embrace life fully and with intensity, as if you would choose to relive it endlessly.

In a world without eternal recurrence (Kundera’s world), her choices, such as staying in her job or relationship, might feel lighter because they occur only once and never return. The weight of consequences is removed, and every act is unique and unrepeatable. This perspective can lead to two outcomes: either Jane might feel liberated to take risks because each act is "once-off" and fleeting, or she might feel a sense of nihilism, believing that her choices don’t have lasting weight or significance.