Perhaps a simple misreading. But I have never liked calling anyone stupid. John On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 10:21 AM, Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hm... are you sure that you read what I wrote ? Or was it a deliberate > misreading ? > > O.K. > > On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 2:07 AM, John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > >> For the same reasons that we do not say of those who make it the central >> business of their lives to read the Holy Quran or the Holy Bible stupid. >> One, it is not polite. Two, there have been some very smart people who have >> followed this path. Three, how they came to make whatever it is the central >> business of their lives is a fascinating question. Four, failure to find a >> shared vocabulary of motives may leave only fight or flight as options. >> Four is, quite likely, not terribly relevant to devotees of Heidegger, now >> a small group armed only with an odd vocabulary. On the other hand, if one >> of them writes the next *Mein Kampf *and a new generation of right-wing >> populists take up the cause..... >> >> John >> >> On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 9:00 AM, Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx> >> wrote: >> >>> Why not just go ahead and say that everyone who does not make it his >>> central business in life to read Heidegger and ponder his Nazism is >>> stooopid. >>> >>> O.K. >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 7:13 PM, <cblists@xxxxxxxx> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> Initially, I, like many others, succumbed to the (fallacious) argument >>>> (similar to 'jump[ing] at finally having a good reason not to have to >>>> struggle with one of the most arduous and complex of contemporary >>>> philosophers' which Bernard-Henry Levy points out): >>>> >>>> 'Heidegger was a nazi. Therefore he had nothing of philosophical value >>>> to say.' >>>> >>>> It was only after coming to Germany in the mid-1990's and reading of >>>> the extraordinary impact that Heidegger has had on 'Continental' philosophy >>>> that I thought I had perhaps better at least have a look. And I was both >>>> reluctant and careful; I spent two years reading the biographical and >>>> critical literature (in German, French and English) on Heidegger and nazism >>>> before actually reading anything written by Heidegger himself. >>>> >>>> It was, in a way, the poet Paul Celan who *permitted* me to read >>>> Heidegger at all. Celan, and then the Christian theologian Rudolf >>>> Bultmann. >>>> >>>> Bultmann and Heidegger were colleagues at Marburg in the 1920's. They >>>> attended each other's seminars; and Bultmann appears to have been caught up >>>> along with the others who quickly recognized Heidegger and his teaching as >>>> something extraordinary : >>>> >>>> ". . . thinking has come alive again, the intellectual treasures of the >>>> past, long believed to be dead, have been made to speak again, and it has >>>> been found that they bring forth very different things than one sceptically >>>> assumed. There is a teacher; one can perhaps learn thinking . . . that >>>> thinking, that springs as a passion from the simple fact of >>>> being-born-into-the-world . . . ." <1 - see footnotes below> >>>> >>>> What Heidegger did for the intellectual treasures of classical >>>> philosophy - making them speak again in a living, passionate voice - is no >>>> doubt what Bultmann hoped to do with the spiritual treasures of Christian >>>> scripture and tradition. >>>> >>>> "Bultmann saw man as a questioning being in search of >>>> self-understanding and affirmed that only the New Testament provides >>>> authentic answers to the questions about the basis of human existence. . . >>>> . Bultmann developed a kerygmatic theology in which the historicality of >>>> the earthly Jesus is largely bypassed, while attention is focused on the >>>> existential significance of the preached Christ for the hearer, who must >>>> respond in the ever-present moment with faith (characterized as >>>> 'decision')." <3> >>>> >>>> During the Hitler years in Germany, Bultmann refused to modify his >>>> teaching in any way to suit nazi ideology, and he supported the Confessing >>>> Church - the German Protestant movement organized to resist nazi church >>>> policy.<2> (Perhaps the member of the Confessing Church best-known today >>>> is Dietrich Bonhoeffer.) Bultmann may well have hoped that an existential >>>> ('demythologized') interpretation of Christianity would serve as some >>>> answer to the woeful failing of much Christian theology in guiding >>>> Christians in their 'moment' of 'decision' when faced with nazism. >>>> >>>> Celan's relationship with Heidegger is well-documented <4>; the >>>> ambivalence of his feelings towards and about *this* 'Meister aus >>>> Deutschland' (see note <5>) is amply evidenced in his words and actions >>>> during their several meetings. After one such meeting in Heidegger's cabin >>>> on Todtnauberg, Celan wrote in the guestbook: >>>> >>>> "In the cabin-book, with the view of the Brunnenstern [literally >>>> 'fountain-star' - see note <6>], with a hope in my heart of a 'coming word' >>>> [kommendes Wort]." >>>> >>>> Bultmann's account of his reconciliation with Heidegger after the war >>>> has become for me *central* in striving to come to some understanding of >>>> Heidegger's failure to speak that 'word'. Many, not just Celan, awaited >>>> from Heidegger some account or explanation of how he had been led into >>>> error. They awaited an *apologia*; not so much an admission of guilt and >>>> request for forgiveness, but an explanation of what had seduced him, as a >>>> key perhaps to understanding the seduction of so many others, and possibly >>>> even as some small light of use for the examination, and search for a way >>>> out, of . . . well, I can only *allude* to it as 'that horrific darkness'. >>>> 'Das kommende Wort' was, for many, to be 'ein losendes Wort' - a word of >>>> 'solution', of 'liberation'. Some, no doubt, even hoped (but how could >>>> *any* man fulfill *this* expectation?) for a word of *absolution* and >>>> *redemption*. >>>> >>>> Bultmann was well aware that they were all waiting in vain. >>>> >>>> He recounts how Heidegger called him 'out of the blue' one day in 1945: >>>> 'Hello - it's Martin calling.' Bultmann was so little prepared to hear >>>> from Heidegger that he responded: '*Which* Martin?' Heidegger came quickly >>>> to the point: 'I want to ask for your forgiveness . . . .' The two met, >>>> and the dark chasm that had yawned between them closed 'spontaneously'. >>>> The trust - and friendship - of their days in Marburg was joyfully >>>> renewed. They ate and drank together . . . and then when it came time to >>>> part, Bultmann returned to the subject of Heidegger's telephone call: >>>> >>>> "'Now,' I said to him, 'you must, like Augustine, write your >>>> _Confessions_ . . . not in the least for the sake of the truth in your >>>> thought.' Heidegger's face turned to a petrified mask. He left, without >>>> saying a word . . . ." <7> >>>> >>>> Heidegger's involvement with nazism is deeply troubling for anyone who >>>> comes into contact with his writing, is forced to acknowledge its genius, >>>> and worries about its moral integrity. Some say that Heidegger's >>>> philosophy is a thing of evil; not only is it 'de-humanizing', but it has >>>> corrupted much of 20th century philosophy<8>. At the other end of the >>>> spectrum is the view that "Heidegger's philosophy is not compromised in any >>>> of its phases [by his involvement with nazism], and that the acceptance of >>>> it is fully consistent with a deep commitment to liberal democracy." <9> >>>> The range of opinion is as wide as the list of works expressing those >>>> opinions is long. >>>> >>>> Heidegger lived long enough to oversee the beginnings of the enterprise >>>> which is still issuing the authoritative editions of his work. It is an >>>> impressive corpus which will run to over a hundred volumes. But how much - >>>> if any - of one's time and intellectual energy should one spend reading the >>>> work of an ex-nazi, who made speeches counselling unquestioning obedience? >>>> >>>> Celan and Bultmann permit me to read Heidegger, but they also caution >>>> me to go very carefully. The fact that Celan would have anything to do >>>> with Heidegger compels me to refrain from condemning him outright; the >>>> ambivalence of Celan's feelings warns me that there is much for which >>>> Heidegger must ever remain on trial. I accept Bultmann's word that >>>> Heidegger's acknowledgment of guilt was sincere; I am both saddened and >>>> troubled (as I'm sure he was) by Heidegger's failure to fulfill the >>>> responsibilities that followed from that acknowledgment, and that >>>> guilt.<10> >>>> >>>> It is not possible for me to convey the effect that reading and >>>> listening (there are several hours of his talks available on recordings) to >>>> Heidegger has had on my life. I still remember the week of ecstasy - yes, >>>> I literally 'stood outside myself' and watched as I went about my regular >>>> 'business', with a significant portion of my intellect locked in a posture >>>> of critical admiration of such logical integrity - that followed my first >>>> apprehension of Aristotle. The same ecstatic reverie is occasioned by my >>>> ever-growing appreciation of Kant's architectonic. And there are no words >>>> to describe those moments and places which are the (timeless spaceless) >>>> realm attained when thinking in the purely formal (no, *not* symbolic!) >>>> languages of logic. And for a time, such was the impact that some of the >>>> writings of Martin Heidegger had on my . . . well, will you understand if I >>>> leave it at 'being in the world'? >>>> >>>> When I have tried to write about this before, I have (with more than a >>>> hint of dark irony) invoked the characters of both the 'harlequin' ("the >>>> man has enlarged my mind") and Marlow ("the farthest point of my navigation >>>> and the culmination of my experience") from Conrad's _Heart of Darkness_. >>>> (I have found since that I am not the first to use metaphors drawn from >>>> this work when talking of Heidegger.) Yes, 'the man has enlarged my mind' >>>> is meant in a positive, adulatory way - but 'farthest point' and >>>> 'culmination' . . . well, here the 'darkness' draws in; I am stopped and >>>> cannot seem to get further; I don't see my way *forward* clearly, and am >>>> gravely concerned. (Allow me a switch of metaphor here - from 'river' to >>>> 'bridge'.) Celan and Bultmann permit me to explore the massive span of >>>> Heidegger's work; but at the same time they caution me as I venture out and >>>> away from familiar shores. At its heart - running somewhere close to the >>>> center of all of his work - is Heidegger's notion of 'authenticity'. For >>>> all that talk of a significant 'turning' ['die Kehre'] in his thought, >>>> _Sein and Zeit_ remains the keystone of an arch that reaches from the >>>> pre-socratic to the post-modern. And it is not just I who has, for all of >>>> their appreciation of Heidegger's genius, remained convinced that there is >>>> a serious flaw somewhere in the heart of that stone. >>>> >>>> - Chris Bruce >>>> Kiel, Germany >>>> >>>> >>>> <1> Hannah Arendt as quoted in Ruediger Safranski, _Ein Meister aus >>>> Deutschland: Heidegger und seine Zeit_, Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer Taschenbuch >>>> Verlag, 1998 [1994]. I have, for convenience, followed Ewald Osers' >>>> translation [_Martin Heidegger: Beyond Good and Evil_, Cambridge, Mass.: >>>> Harvard University Press, 1998] here, but have been forced to modify some >>>> minor infelicities. English readers, Safranski, and Heidegger himself >>>> have been poorly served by Osers' error-laden work. >>>> >>>> <2> Information from the entry for Bultmann on the _Encyclopedia >>>> Britannica CD: 1999 Standard Edition_, Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, >>>> Inc., 1999. >>>> >>>> <3> From Geoffrey Turner's entry, "Bultmann, Rudolf Karl", in Alan >>>> Bullock and R.B. Woodings, ed. _The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thinkers_, >>>> London: Fontana Paperbacks, 1990 [1983]. >>>> >>>> <4> Safranski's account in his _Ein Meister aus Deutschland: Heidegger >>>> und seine Zeit_ is as good as any I have read. >>>> >>>> <5> Safranski's title refers to Celan's 'Todesfugue'; in German >>>> *everyone* is expected to recognize the reference (so much so that it is >>>> nowhere in the book explicitly stated) which this title makes to the line >>>> from that poem: "der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland" [death is a >>>> master from Germany]. Harvard U. Press chose instead to make reference to >>>> Nietzsche with the subtitle of their English translation. >>>> >>>> <6> In front of Heidegger's cabin is a wooden pillar-like conduit for >>>> water from a well, topped with a (to my mind, at any rate, 'Escher-like') >>>> three-dimensional carving of a star. A picture of it can be seen in Paul >>>> Heinz Koster, ed. _Deutschland deine Denker_, Hamburg: Verlag Gruner + >>>> Jahr, 1984 [5. Auflage]. (I am compelled to note here that the account in >>>> that book of Heidegger's involvement with nazism is not only somewhat >>>> facile, but misleading.) >>>> >>>> <7> This account is found in many places. I have taken it from Hugo >>>> Ott, _Martin Heidegger: Unterwegs zu seiner Biographie_, Frankfurt a.M. / >>>> New York: Campus Verlag, 1992 [1988]. The translations are my own - I have >>>> rendered the telephone conversation in idiomatic (but I hope felicitous) >>>> English. >>>> >>>> <8> The most damning indictments of Heidegger's philosophy and its >>>> influence I have seen are two books by Hassan Givsan: _Heidegger - das >>>> Denken der Inhumanitaet: ein ontologische Auseinandersetzung mit Heideggers >>>> Denken_ [Heidegger - the thought of inhumanity: an ontological debate with >>>> Heidegger's thought] (Wuerzburg: Verlag Koenigshausen & Neumann, 1998) and >>>> _Eine bestuerzende Geschichte: warum Philosophie sich durch den "Fall >>>> Heidegger" korrumpieren lassen_ [an alarming story: why philosophy has >>>> allowed itself to be corrupted by the 'Heidegger case'] (Wuerzburg: Verlag >>>> Koenigshausen & Neumann, 1998). >>>> >>>> <9> Julian Young. _Heidegger, philosophy, Nazism_, Cambridge, U.K.: >>>> Cambridge University Press, 1997. >>>> >>>> <10> It is was once my conjecture that Heidegger chose 'to pass over >>>> in silence' this subject in order to maintain a certain - well, for the >>>> moment I will call it 'philosophical integrity', in his 'corpus'. The man >>>> Heidegger was fallible - this he admitted personally in his confessions of >>>> shame (to Jaspers) and guilt (to Bultmann). But he could not bear to see >>>> his *work* so flawed - and to this end he was even guilty of tampering (in >>>> 'minor' but highly controversial, ways) with his manuscripts. A written, >>>> or even publicly announced (for that, like his other public 'utterances', >>>> would be transcribed and find its way into the corpus), 'confession' could >>>> compromise the integrity of his work. >>>> >>>> Recent (and ongoing) publication of Heidegger's notebooks has revealed >>>> that the matter is perhaps at once both simpler and more complex than I or >>>> many others thought. But I continue to side with those who argue that >>>> Heidegger's personal failings are no excuse to dismiss his writings without >>>> critical engagement with them. >>>> >>>> Jonathan Rees expresses it as well as anyone: "Philosophy is about >>>> learning to be aware of problems in your own thinking where you might not >>>> have suspected them. It offers its readers an intellectual boot camp, where >>>> every sentence is a challenge, to be negotiated with care. The greatest >>>> philosophers may well be wrong: the point of recognising them as great is >>>> not to subordinate yourself to them, but to challenge yourself to work out >>>> exactly where they go wrong." [Jonathan Rees; "In Defence of Heidegger", >>>> _Prospect_, >March 12, 2014] >>>> >>>> - Chris Bruce >>>> Kiel, Germany >>>> -- >>>> >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------ >>>> To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, >>>> digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html >>>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> John McCreery >> The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN >> Tel. +81-45-314-9324 >> jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx >> http://www.wordworks.jp/ >> > > -- John McCreery The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN Tel. +81-45-314-9324 jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.wordworks.jp/