Eternal Recurrence and The Cay Science 225The doctrine of the recurrence of the same is also found in the
Dionysian myth of the god who dies and is perpetually reborn. Since
Nietzsche had embarked on his philosophical path with Dionysus, it
seems logical that he did not originate his doctrine of eternal recurrence
in his later writings but simply «-originated it after it had eluded him
temporarily. If, therefore, the doctrine of eternal recurrence was already
familiar to him as an intellectual construct, this renewed encounter with
things he had known for so long must have sparked something alto-
gether different in him. Otherwise, the sheer level of excitement he was
experiencing would be incomprehensible. Why would a long-familiar
idea be so rousing, and why now? What was the intellectual environment
that lent it such explosive force? What was going through his head and
his heart? An examination of Nietzsche's notes in the weeks immedi-
ately preceding and following this major event would be a logical source
of information.
In the early summer of 1881, under the heading "Main Idea!" (9,442),
Nietzsche jotted down a thought that was scarcely new to him, namely
that people puzzle out the existence of nature and themselves "with
false standards" and are consequendy incapable of achieving authentic
knowledge. Everything that takes place within us is per se something
else, which we do not know" (9,443). He then proceeded to give this
familiar thought a new twist. He almost exploded with anger when con-
sidering the medium of refraction, which impedes any straightforward
encounter with reality; he called this medium "a fantasy of the 'ego' and
all 'non-ego.' " In Daybreak he was singing the praises of perspectivist
vision and knowledge. At that point, he appeared to have made his peace
with perspectivism, having discovered its phenomenological value. Now
he was saying: The devil with perspective! I want to step out of the cage
of my perspectivist perceptions! He emphatically underlined his admo-
nition to "Stop feeling like such afantastic ego! Learn to cast off bit by bit your
alleged individualityΓ But how is this to work^ Should we adopt an altruis-
tic point of view about knowledge, which would entail trying to see out
of many eyes? If so, should we take our place among the community of