The cyclic time, the focus of this thesis, is a periodically recurring time. The idea of periodic destruction and re-creation of the cosmos is found in many ancient cultures. It is especially emphasized in the Indian spiritual traditions. It occurs also the Stoic philosophies, together with the idea of a cosmic fire (ekpyrosis) that periodically, every Great Year destroys the cosmos in order to renew it. Similar ideas can be found in many ancient myths as we know also from the comparative religious studies of Mircea Eliade – and, of course, in the philosophical fragments of Heraclitus. The notion of cyclical time is also found in Nietzsche's idea of the eternal return. In this diploma thesis, I present the main philosophical problems addressing this topic, add some of my own reflections and try to transpose cyclical time into modern thinking, following the cosmological theory of Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok.
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