International Journal of Philosophy

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Heidegger, Pride and National Socialism

Received: 19 March 2013    Accepted:     Published: 10 June 2013
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Abstract

This article looks at the controversy surrounding Heidegger's National Socialism and asks the following question: was Heidegger a Nazi and if so, why did he not disavow it more vigorously after the war? This leads to an argument that Heidegger's pride led him to amend his work to dilute the consistencies of his work with National Socialism after the fact, in addition to allowing his work to remain obscure in meaning. He did the same with the rejection of transcendence, and for the same reasons: to do so would be to point out that his work, however radical, achieved less that he claimed for it. Heidegger’s story remains a cautionary tale for any intellectual who comes after him.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijp.20130101.11
Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2013)
Page(s) 1-5
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

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Keywords

Heidegger, National Socialism, Sein, Zeit, Existentialism

References
[1] Eric Loret, "Heidegger lasse," Libération, 8 Feb 2007. Nicolas Weill, "Heidegger :l'avenird'unecompromission," Le Monde, 25 Jan 2007; Pierre Bourdieu, Ontologiepolitique de Martin Heidegger (Paris : Minuit, 1988) ; Pierre Faye, Le piège (Paris : Balland, 1994); Emmanuel Faye, Heidegger l’introduction du nazismedans la philosophie (Albin Michel, 2005); Victor Farias, Heidegger and Nazism (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989).
[2] Stuart Elden, "National Socialism and the Politics of Calculation," Social and Cultural Geography 7:5 (Oct 2006), 753-769; J. Agassi, "Heidegger Made Simple (and Offensive)," Philosophy of social Sciences 34:3 (Sept 2004), 423-431; J. Phillips, "Heidegger’s roots: Nietzsche, National Socialism, and the Greeks," International Journal of Philosophical Studies 12:1 (2003), 85-88.
[3] German Existentialism (New York: Wisdom, 1965), a pamphlet accusing Heidegger of Nazism.
[4] Victor Farias, Heidegger and Nazism (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989).
[5] Farias, op. cit., p. 287.
[6] Martin Heidegger, Textes divers (M. Harr, ed. Paris: L’Herne, 1983).
[7] Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics (Indiana University Press, 2001); Time and Being (New York: Harper and Row, 1972).
[8] Op. cit. (1983).
[9] (New York : Humanity, 2000).
[10] (New York : Harper, 1991).
[11] (New York: Wisdom, 1965).
[12] Fundamentals of Metaphysics, op. cit. 192.
[13] Op. cit., 149ss, 154.
[14] (Paris: Gallimard, 1992.)
[15] Concepts fondamentaux, op. cit. , section 5, 52ss, 85.
[16] (New York: SUNY, 1996).
[17] Op. cit., 58, 62 in the German edition.
[18] History of the Concept of Time (Bloomington : Indiana UniversityPresss, 1985), section 20, 94ss.
[19] Op. cit., 163.
[20] Fundamental of Metaphysics, op. cit., 94ss.
[21] Concepts Fondamentaux, op.cit.
[22] "If the man of New Times has such difficulty in finding himself in the essential, it is obviously because in other respects he knows too many things, when he doesn't imagine knowing everything." (Translation by the author).Op. cit, 29.
[23] Martin Heidegger, Correspondance avec Karl Jaspers 1920-1963 (Paris: Gallimard, 1997).
[24] Emmanuel Faye, op. cit, 140.
[25] Elucidations of Holderlin’s Poetry, (Amherst: Humanity, 2000).
[26] Farias, id., 179.
[27] Jean Pierre Faye, Le piège (Paris : Balland, 1994); Emmanuel Faye, Heidegger, L’introduction du nazisme dans la philosophie (Paris: Albin Michel, 2005).
[28] Emmanuel Faye, id. 363.
[29] Jean Pierre Faye, Le piège : la philosophie heideggerienne et le nazisme (Paris : Editions Balland, 1994 ).
[30] Emmanuel Faye, Heidegger l’introduction du nazisme dans la philosophie (Albin Michel, 2005), 22.
[31] Nietzsche, op. cit,volume II, 101.
[32] Problèmes fondamentaux de métaphysique, op.cit., 164.
[33] Concept of Time, op. cit.
[34] Concept of Time, op. cit., 1.
[35] Concept of Time, op. cit., 2.
[36] Nietzsche, op. cit., vol. 2, 181.
[37] Pierre Bourdieu, Ontologie politique de Martin Heidegger (Paris : Minuit, 1988), 26.
[38] Emmanuel Faye, id. « Atbottom of the heidegerrianquestioning, thereis no spiritual intuition or inspiringthought, but, on the contrary, an empitness… (Translation by the author,) 363.
[39] Farias, op. cit. , 179.
[40] The Gift(London: Penguin, 2001), 203.
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  • Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijp.20130101.11,
      author = {Laure Paquette},
      title = {Heidegger, Pride and National Socialism},
      journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
      volume = {1},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-5},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20130101.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20130101.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20130101.11},
      abstract = {This article looks at the controversy surrounding Heidegger's National Socialism and asks the following question: was Heidegger a Nazi and if so, why did he not disavow it more vigorously after the war?  This leads to an argument that Heidegger's pride led him to amend his work to dilute the consistencies of his work with National Socialism after the fact, in addition to allowing his work to remain obscure in meaning. He did the same with the rejection of transcendence, and for the same reasons: to do so would be to point out that his work, however radical, achieved less that he claimed for it. Heidegger’s story remains a cautionary tale for any intellectual who comes after him.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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