Thanks, Chris.
I read Steiner’s On Difficulty and Other Essays several decades ago. At the
time, I was impressed. It appears it is time for another look.
John
Sent from my iPad
On Feb 5, 2020, at 20:50, epostboxx@xxxxxxxx wrote:
I have just learned that the person who could arguably have been seen as the
greatest living embodiment of the spirit driving the list which was Lit-Ideas
progenitor has died at the age of 90. (I'm still not sure whether I'm legally
permitted even to mention the name of that former list - but I believe that -
in gross understatement - I can say that it, like George Steiner, 'had
something to do with' PHILOSOPHY and LITERATURE.)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/04/george-steiner-influential-culture-critic-dies-aged-90
“Great works of art pass through us like storm winds, flinging open the doors
of perception, pressing upon the architecture of our beliefs with their
transforming powers … We seek to record their impact, to put our shaken house
in its new order. Through some primary instinct of communion we seek to
convey to others the quality and force of our experience. We would persuade
them to lay themselves open to it. In this attempt at persuasion originate
the truest insights criticism can afford.” - George Steiner, in TOLSTOY OR
DOSTOEVSKY: AN ESSAY IN CONTRAST (Faber and Faber, 1960)
It was something which George Steiner wrote (I believe in the mid-nineties -
I'm searching for the quotation and will post it when i find it) which
convinced me that as a philosopher taking up residence in Germany I could not
merely say, "Heidegger? That &%$§ing Nazi?" and immediately dismiss him. The
'Auseinandersetzung' which followed in the next few years was certainly one
of the most difficult - and fruitful - intellectual challenges in my life,
and I cannot write a note on his passing without acknowledging that influence.
Chris Bruce,
in Kiel, Germany
P.S. I will write further on this - at the moment I am pressed for time. But
to forestall any misunderstanding as to the conclusions to which I came after
that 'Auseinandersetzung' with Heidegger, I will here just say that to anyone
questioning me NOW about Heidegger I would confidently respond (in no doubt a
less crude way, but time presses), "Heidegger? that &%$§ing Nazi!" - and then
offer compelling support for that stance, starting with 1) reference to
Johannes Fritsche's HISTORICAL DESTINY AND NATIONAL SOCIALISM IN HEIDEGGER'S
BEING AND TIME; 2) a demonstration the telling poverty of Heidegger's social
and political philosophy (a sort of naive simplistic - and fatally flawed -
communitarianism so starkly evidenced in one of his comments on the Jewish
Diaspora found in his SCHWARZE HEFTE [Black Notebooks], which have aroused
much interest and controversy in recent years);and 3) a recounting of the
tale of Heidegger's damning reaction to the challenge Tillich set him when
Heidegger sought reconciliation following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Yesterday I was somehow able to access the full text of P.F. Strawson's
review of two of Steiner's books (MARTIN HEIDEGGER, and ON DIFFICULTY AND
OTHER ESSAYS) in the APRIL 19, 1979 issue of THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS;
today I find it blocked with the notice 'This is exclusive content for
subscribers only.' Strawson's reviews are excellent; I highly recommend them
- so give it a try:
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1979/04/19/take-the-b-train/
The full text of Johannes Fritsche's HISTORICAL DESTINY AND NATIONAL
SOCIALISM IN HEIDEGGER'S BEING AND TIME (which i also highly recommend) can
be found at:
https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5k4006n2;query=;brand=ucpress
I will write more on the other two 'pillars' of my 'triadic' condemnation of
Heidegger when time permits me to search out the relevant documents.
-cb
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
