by HerodoteanDreams Note: citations and page references are taken from David Krell’s Basic Writings. Introductory Observations: Heidegger is commonly held to be the most impressive thinker of the 1900s. What is most immediately striking about Heidegger is the jarring complexity of the language he uses. He writes this way not only because the language we use today has lost its vibrancy under the crushing weight of commerce and technology, but also because he is in agreement with Nietzsche’s statements about the way grammar and language influence thinking. He aims to shake the way that we think at a foundational level and writing in this way, among other things, slows the reader down. And while normally I go out of my way to consider each thinker on his own terms, for the sake of understanding Heidegger I want to point out right off the bat that he expresses no sense of humor whatsoever in his writing. Philosophy is
Dec 24, 2020Liked by Phocaean Dionysius, Montana Classical College
Excellent treatment of Heidegger's thinking. A lot to think about here.
"Heidegger’s radical historicism claims that there is no way to take one’s bearings or to judge a particular conception of nobility over and against another conception of nobility."
This is hard to doubt for the earlier Heidegger. The Dasein of Sein und Zeit is certainly far more "Cartesian" than Heidegger himself was comfortable with.
I wonder if this remains true for the Heidegger of the 30s & 40s. While it's trivial to say that Heidegger is hardly a fan of metaphysics in the original sense, at the same time one finds a powerful current of anti-subjectivism throughout his works.
The Heidegger who writes of Dasein as "living in the house of Being", who refers to "Being speaking through Dasein", seems to me much more open to at least some non-personal, non-subjective reference points -- even if Dasein's historical/historicist predicament means that one cannot fully express such reference points with the cold finality of logic.
"By contrast, as far as I can tell, the Christian response to Heidegger’s radical historicism is reaffirmation of faith in the radical importance of Jesus."
How familiar are you with Paul Tillich?
What you say here is more or less Tillich's conclusion in The Courage to Be, which applies a Heideggerian and existentialist approach to Christian (Protestant) theology.
Excellent treatment of Heidegger's thinking. A lot to think about here.
"Heidegger’s radical historicism claims that there is no way to take one’s bearings or to judge a particular conception of nobility over and against another conception of nobility."
This is hard to doubt for the earlier Heidegger. The Dasein of Sein und Zeit is certainly far more "Cartesian" than Heidegger himself was comfortable with.
I wonder if this remains true for the Heidegger of the 30s & 40s. While it's trivial to say that Heidegger is hardly a fan of metaphysics in the original sense, at the same time one finds a powerful current of anti-subjectivism throughout his works.
The Heidegger who writes of Dasein as "living in the house of Being", who refers to "Being speaking through Dasein", seems to me much more open to at least some non-personal, non-subjective reference points -- even if Dasein's historical/historicist predicament means that one cannot fully express such reference points with the cold finality of logic.
"By contrast, as far as I can tell, the Christian response to Heidegger’s radical historicism is reaffirmation of faith in the radical importance of Jesus."
How familiar are you with Paul Tillich?
What you say here is more or less Tillich's conclusion in The Courage to Be, which applies a Heideggerian and existentialist approach to Christian (Protestant) theology.
Loving your articles here.