[D66] Eternity by the Stars: Revolution, Cosmology, and Eternal Return in Blanqui’s Thought

[René Oudeweg]

Eternity by the Stars: Revolution, Cosmology, and Eternal Return in 
Blanqui’s Thought

Louis-Auguste Blanqui’s Eternity by the Stars is one of the most unusual 
philosophical texts of the nineteenth century. Written in 1872 while 
Blanqui was imprisoned after the failure of the Paris Commune, the book 
is neither a political manifesto nor a conventional scientific treatise. 
Instead, it is a speculative meditation on cosmology, time, and 
repetition, blending astronomy with metaphysical despair. Yet beneath 
its cosmic language lies a deeply political and existential reflection 
on history, revolution, and human agency. Eternity by the Stars is at 
once a work of science-inspired philosophy, a prison text, and a radical 
rethinking of progress.

Historical and Biographical Context

Blanqui was best known as a revolutionary activist, a tireless 
conspirator against monarchy and bourgeois rule, and a symbol of 
insurrectionary socialism. He spent much of his life in prison, and 
Eternity by the Stars was written during one of these incarcerations. 
This context is crucial. The book emerges from defeat: the crushing of 
the Paris Commune in 1871 marked a devastating setback for revolutionary 
hopes in France. Blanqui, imprisoned and isolated, turned away from 
immediate political strategy and toward the vastness of the cosmos.

The result is striking. Instead of reaffirming faith in historical 
progress or revolutionary inevitability, Blanqui confronts the 
possibility that history itself is trapped in an endless loop. The text 
reflects the psychological aftermath of political failure and the 
tension between revolutionary desire and cosmic determinism.

The Core Argument: Infinity and Repetition

At the heart of Eternity by the Stars lies a speculative cosmological 
argument. Blanqui draws on contemporary astronomical ideas, especially 
the notion of an infinite universe composed of a finite number of 
elements. If matter is finite in its combinations but space and time are 
infinite, Blanqui argues, then every possible configuration of matter 
must recur endlessly. Every event, every life, every thought has already 
occurred and will occur again, infinitely many times.

This leads to a radical vision of eternal repetition. Unlike later 
formulations of eternal return (most famously in Nietzsche), Blanqui’s 
version is bleak and mechanistic. There is no affirmation or joyous 
embrace of recurrence. Instead, repetition is a cosmic prison. Humanity 
is condemned to relive the same errors, the same defeats, the same 
injustices, over and over again, across countless identical worlds 
scattered through infinite space.

Time Without Progress

One of the most profound implications of Blanqui’s argument is its 
rejection of linear historical progress. Nineteenth-century political 
thought—especially socialist and positivist traditions—was deeply 
invested in the idea that history moves forward toward emancipation, 
reason, or justice. Blanqui dismantles this belief. If every historical 
sequence repeats endlessly, then progress becomes an illusion. 
Revolutions succeed and fail infinitely, but never culminate in a final 
victory.

This vision is deeply ironic given Blanqui’s lifelong commitment to 
revolution. Eternity by the Stars reads almost like an anti-teleological 
manifesto, stripping history of its redemptive promise. Time does not 
march forward; it circulates. Hope is no longer guaranteed by historical 
necessity.

Science as Tragedy

Although Blanqui grounds his argument in scientific reasoning, science 
does not offer liberation in this text. Astronomy becomes a source of 
existential horror rather than enlightenment. The stars reveal not 
transcendence but repetition; not freedom but constraint. Knowledge of 
the universe intensifies human despair rather than alleviating it.

This marks a sharp departure from Enlightenment optimism. Scientific 
progress does not save humanity from suffering; instead, it confirms the 
permanence of suffering. Blanqui’s cosmos is indifferent, mechanical, 
and merciless. Human freedom appears negligible against the infinite 
replication of worlds.

Political Implications

Despite its cosmic scale, Eternity by the Stars remains a political 
text. The idea that every tyranny, every massacre, every failed uprising 
is endlessly repeated is devastating, but it also contains a subtle 
ethical provocation. If no ultimate progress is guaranteed, then the 
value of action lies not in its final outcome but in its immediate 
resistance to injustice.

Some readers interpret Blanqui’s cosmology as a form of tragic 
materialism. There is no divine plan, no historical necessity that 
ensures victory. Revolution becomes an act of defiance rather than 
destiny. In this sense, Blanqui’s pessimism paradoxically radicalizes 
responsibility: if nothing is guaranteed, then action must be chosen 
without illusions.

Style and Tone

Stylistically, Eternity by the Stars is concise, lyrical, and somber. 
Its language oscillates between scientific exposition and poetic lament. 
Blanqui writes with clarity but also with emotional intensity, often 
addressing humanity as a collective prisoner of the universe. The 
brevity of the text adds to its power; it feels like a compressed outcry 
rather than a systematic philosophy.

The tone is unmistakably melancholic. There is no consolation offered, 
no metaphysical escape. Even death loses its finality in a universe of 
infinite repetition. Existence becomes an endless reenactment rather 
than a meaningful narrative.

Influence and Legacy

Although largely ignored at the time of its publication, Eternity by the 
Stars gained renewed attention in the twentieth century. Thinkers such 
as Walter Benjamin were deeply influenced by Blanqui’s critique of 
progress. Benjamin saw the book as a dark mirror of bourgeois 
historicism, exposing the myth that technological and historical 
advancement necessarily lead to emancipation.

The text also anticipates modern existential and cosmological anxieties: 
the insignificance of humanity in an infinite universe, the repetition 
of violence, and the fragility of hope. In this sense, Blanqui appears 
surprisingly modern, even prophetic.

Conclusion

Eternity by the Stars is a haunting and paradoxical work. Written by a 
revolutionary, it dismantles faith in historical progress. Inspired by 
science, it transforms cosmology into tragedy. Rather than offering 
solutions, Blanqui confronts the reader with the abyss of infinite 
repetition.

Yet the power of the book lies precisely in its refusal of comfort. By 
stripping away illusions—of progress, destiny, and cosmic 
justice—Blanqui forces a confrontation with the raw conditions of 
existence. In a universe without guarantees, human action becomes both 
more fragile and more meaningful. Eternity by the Stars remains a 
profound meditation on defeat, endurance, and the tragic dignity of 
resistance in an indifferent cosmos.