Shuzo Kuki's Philosophy of Eternally Recurrent Time

Shuzo Kuki developed a unique philosophy of time around 1930. It was a philosophy of eternally recurrent time. Kuki proposed this theory as an alternative to the theories of Bergson and Heidegger. He interpreted the theories of these philosophers to be treating time as essentially related to the human will or consciousness. He regarded these philosophers to be concerned about human predicament as being essentially finite but transcending. Kuki sympathized with this conception of human being. However, he thought this picture of temporality of human being is one dimensional. It sees human transcendence only horizontally. He proposed that we should introduce another dimension of transcendence, or extasis, i.e., perpendicular extasis. This is the self-consciousness of being a microcosmos in the macro-cosmos of Karpa, or, eternally recurrent cosmic time. We can see ourselves as a transmigrating being in the eternally returning Karpas. This dimension of transcendence is metaphysical or mystical aspect of human existence. But it is an important element of our self-awareness. If the nature of time is internally connected to our self-awareness, as Bergson and Heidegger thought so, then, our metaphysical conception of ourselves as a micro-cosmos should also be included in the philosophical construction of our temporality. In this paper, I sketch the profile of this unique theory and add some comments about the significance of Kuki's theory