[lit-ideas] What It Means To Think, I mean, Obey, no, Hark!
- From: "Richard Henninge" <RichardHenninge@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 03:07:04 +0100
Wait, hold on--there's a little drama unfolding here. A boy, struggling, his
ear firmly in his mother's gloved hand, her hot foggy breath in the
sub-freezing marketplace wafting over his cheek as she mutters, sub voce,
but, no, now he's broken away and is scampering off, and his mama is forced
into huskily audible commando syllables that echo off the pavement stones in
the frigid air, for the boy intended and any unintended passersby in range
to hear.... But wait, let's let Martin tell it:
"Warte, ich werde dich lehren, was gehorchen heisst"--ruft die Mutter ihrem
Buben nach, der nicht nach Hause will. Verspricht die Mutter ihrem Sohn eine
Definition über den Gehorsam? Nein. Aber vielleicht gibt sie ihm eine
Lektion? Auch nicht, falls sie eine rechte Mutter ist. Sie wird vielmehr dem
Sohn das Gehorchen beibringen. Oder noch besser und umgekehrt: sie wird den
Sohn in das Gehorchen bringen. Das glückt um so nachhaltiger, je seltener
sie schilt. Es glückt um so einfacher, je unmittelbarer die Mutter den Sohn
ins Hören bringt. Nicht erst so, dass er sich dazu nur bequemt, sondern so,
dass er vom Hörenwollen nicht mehr lassen kann. Weshalb nicht? Weil er
hörend geworden ist für das, wohin sein Wesen gehört. Das Lernen lässt sich
darum durch kein Schelten bewirken. Und dennoch muss einer sogar schreien
und schreien, selbst wenn es sich darum handelt, eine so stille Sache wie
das Denken lernen zu lassen...." [Martin Heidegger, _Was Heisst Denken_,
from the beginning of the fifth lesson of the first course taught by
Heidegger after the University of Freiburg had named him an emeritus
professor on September 26, 1951, his 62nd birthday, hence sometime in late
November in the winter semester of 1951-52.]
"You just wait--I'll teach you *what we call obedience* [or, rather, 'what
it means to obey']! a mother *might say to* [or, rather, 'calls after'] her
boy *who won't come home* [or, rather, 'who doesn't want to go home']. *Does
she promise him a definition of obedience* [or, rather, 'Is the mother
promising her son a definition of obedience']? No. Or is she going to give
him a lecture? No again, if she is a proper mother. Rather, she will *convey
to him* [or, rather, 'teach her son'] *what obedience is* [or, rather,
'obedience'] . Or *better,* [or, rather, 'even better and'] the other way
around: she will get him to obey. Her success *will be* [or, rather, 'is']
more lasting the less she scolds him; it *will be easier* [or, rather, 'is
more easily accomplished'], *the more directly she can get him to listen*
[or, rather, 'the more immediately the mother gets her son to hear']--not
just condescend *to listen* [or, rather, 'to hear'], but *listen* [or,
rather, 'hear'] in such a way that he can no longer stop *wanting to do it*
[or, rather, 'wanting to hear']. And why [not]? Because *his ears have been
opened and he now can hear what is in accord with his nature* [or, uglier,
but more literally, 'he has become a hearing one for that whither his being
(his "Wesen"--see the English word "wassail," which has the same root in its
first syllable: "Middle English _wassayl_, contraction of _waes haeil_, from
Old Norse _ves heill_, be in good health: _ves_, imperative singular of
_vesa, vera_, to be" [Am. Heritage Dict.]) hears']. Learning, then, [or,
rather, 'Thus teaching'] cannot be brought about by scolding. *Even so, a
man who teaches must at times grow noisy. In fact, he may have to scream and
scream* [or, rather, 'And, nevertheless, at times one has to raise one's
voice'] *although the aim is to make his students learn* [or, rather, 'even
when it is a question of getting people to allow themselves to be taught']
so quiet a thing as thinking...."
>From Martin Heidegger, _What Does It Mean To Think? (Was Heisst Denken?)_,
first German edition, 1954; first English edition, cited above, translated
by J. Glenn Gray, 1968, under the title _What Is Called Thinking?_.
Richard Henninge
University of Mainz
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
- » [lit-ideas] What It Means To Think, I mean, Obey, no, Hark!
