L'eternità attraverso gli astri

by Louis-Auguste Blanqui, Fabrizio Desideri (Editor), Giulia Alfieri (Translator)

In a century replete with radical politics, final liberations, historical codas, and dreams of eternity, the shadowy figure of Louis-Auguste Blanqui, the constant revolutionary, wrote Eternity by the Stars in the last months of 1871 while incarcerated in Fort du Taureau, a marine cell of the English Channel. In the midst of contemplating his confinement, Blanqui devises a simple calculation in which the infinity of time is confronted with the finite number of possible events to suggest a most radical conclusion: every chain of events is bound to repeat itself eternally in space and time. Our lives are being lived an infinity of times across the confines of the universe, and death, defeat, success and glory are never final. For the world is nothing but the play of probabilities on the great stage of time and space. By straddling the boundaries of hyperrealism and hallucinatory thinking, Blanqui's hypothesis offers a deep, tragic, and heartfelt reflection on the place of the human in the universe, the value of action, and the aching that lies at the heart of every modern soul. This first critical edition of Blanqui's incantatory text in English features an extended introduction by Frank Chouraqui. Exploring sources of Blanqui's thinking in his intellectual context, Chouraqui traces the legacy of the text in critiques of modernity devoting particular attention to the figures of Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin, and Borges. It features copious illuminating annotations that bring out the web of connections which interlace the great marginal figure of Blanqui with more than two millennia of European culture.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Science, Theory

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1872

About the author

French socialist and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism, which believes a revolution can be best accomplished by a small group of avant-garde conspirators.

Reviews

[xDEAD ENDx · Rating 4 out of 5]

The closest Blanqui comes to writing anything explicitly similar to his earlier insurrectionary writings is the swipe at Haussman. Yet, the whole theory of eternal return is a revolutionary theory. As pointed to in the excellent introduction, Blanqui's theory absolves the insurrectionary failures of the past, because in the future we will win.

I'm only partially on board with the idea of eternal return; the biggest struggle for me is reconciling my own individuality (this word doesn't fully convey what I'm reaching for) with the concurrent existence of there being someone exactly the same. I don't want to speak quite in terms of a "soul" or reincarnation, but there is a cognition I have that has no recollection, knowledge, or shared experience with anything else, and it becomes difficult to fathom how I can be the exact same as another's existence without sharing some sort of mental environment.

Relating this to Benjamin's Theses, this is the theory that blasts open the continuum of history. Even if we have lost every struggle in the past, there is no progress because everything is always re-occuring, and in some world, in some formulation--maybe this one we/I experience--we will win the next one.

[Giorgio Compagno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarà il destino di alcuni uomini imprigionati guardare il cielo stellato dalla finestra sbarrata e scorgervi le indicazioni che la Natura ha impartito allo spazio e al tempo. È successo a Giordano Bruno, è successo a Blanqui, e ricapiterà, infinitamente. L'eterno ritorno spiegato non come intuizione filosofica, ma come teoria con tanto di esempi e ragioni. Un libro che fa sentire eterni, per davvero.
Chissà quante volte ho scritto queste parole.

[Alcebiades Diniz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do we limit ourselves? And if we go further. And if we imagine that universal extinction is only a kind of first step. And if the extinctions, in the end, are parts of a large sum, isolated units of a history of suffering, agony and eventual happiness that would have no end. And if every process of destruction, long and excruciating, is like the beads of an infinite necklace.Blanqui imagined this new universe in this small and enlightening treatise, obsessive reading of Walter Benjamin and Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares.

[Marika Castagno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auguste Blanqui, imprigionato per metá della sua vita, una cella e una finestra sul mare, inaccessibile. Scrive questo libro, sull’eternità degli astri e il susseguirsi di ripetizione a cui gioca l’universo, senza fine, alludendo alla monotonia carceraria.

“Siamo fatti cosi: sempre attratti dalle lontananze; siamo fatti cosi: sempre distratti dalle circostanze, siamo fatti così, fatti per perderci”.

[JustHugitNigga · Rating 3 out of 5]

cosmic nihilism.
and not a bad look into history of astronomy of 18th century debates.

[Garuda Guru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acho que fui eu, não soube extrair o melhor desta joia. Mas permanece imperfeita para mim.

[jose o'neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

hace poco tuve dos pensamientos:

1) estoy totalmente desconectado del cielo, no sé leer nada de lo que pasa ahí arriba
2) el abismo está encima de nosotros, más allá del cielo

con estos dos pensamientos, recordé este breve texto que tenía muchas ganas de leer porque benjamin lo citaba en su "libro de los pasajes" y me llamaba la atención por cómo un gran revolucionario llegó a escribir una especulación cósmica tan fatalista.

un librito emocionante que avanza solemnemente hacia la más melancólica ebriedad. como una forma de alucinar el demonio de laplace o de fundamentar científicamente el eterno retorno, se hunde la idea de progreso en una caída y se sacan astillas de diferencia en el determinismo.

"todo ser humano es pues eterno en cada uno de los segundos de su existencia"
"todas estas tierras se abisman"

ahora siento que me conecto mejor con ese abismo que cuelga allí arriba.

[Mirko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un pazzo che in qualche modo anticipa il genio

[lolletto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gli astri se li pippava

[Haluk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yıldızların spektral sınıflandırılması sayesinde evrendeki tüm gökcisimlerinin halihazırda bildiğimiz sonlu sayıda elementten meydana geldiğini biliyoruz.
Peki sonsuz evreni sonlu sayıda elementten oluşan yıldızlarla nasıl doldurursunuz? Tekrarlarla. Sonsuz evrende mutlaka bizim güneş sistemimizin ve dünyamızın ikizleri olmak zorunda. Blanqui 'nin teorisi kısaca bu. 19yy. sonlarında hapisteki bir anarşist için oldukça yaratıcı bir teori. Teorinin eksik ve hataları da kitabın son bölümünde iyi anlatılmış.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has more scientific content than I had expected. I would recommend reading up slightly on Laplace before reading this book.

[Jonathan]

Mindmelting.