Change the Past: Factum Infectum Fieri Nequit and Eternal Return

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to show how a classic topic as the possibility to change the past, which is part of the contemporary debate as well, can be faced and rethought by some of Emanuele Severino’s theoretical reflections. Thanks to this approach, it has been possible to understand the underlying reasons for the ambitious to change the past and why a goal like this one seems so hard to hit. Moreover, there will be the opportunity to figure out which is the best philosophical proposal, within the history of philosophy, in terms of coherence to achieve it. The outcome of this work is going to illustrate how the ambition to change the past is impossible as built on a nihilistic assumption.