Date: Tue, 13 Aug 96 18:57 +0100
From: artefact-AT-t-online.de (M.Eldred_artefact)
Subject: RE: the texts of thinking


Cologne 13 August 1996 

Paul Murphy writes:
"In his response to Robert Scheetz, Dr. Michael Eldred briefly claims that 
tragedy, the Bible, Shakespeare are not sites of thinking, whereas 
Heraclitus and Heidegger are 'thinkers'. (Sorry for the bad paraphrase, I 
inadvertently deleted the relevant post)."

What Paul then goes on to say about the importance of Sophocles for Heidegger in 
no way contradicts my assertion, as far as I can see. I didn't say these other 
texts are irrelevant for thinking! I claim that Heidegger puts these 
philosophically exogenous texts into relation with his only question, which is 
situated in the heartland of philosophy, namely, in the critically passionate 
involvement with Aristotle which provides Heidegger with the puzzle: What is the 
sense/meaning of being that unifies all the different senses of being that 
Aristotle deals with (pollachos legetai to on). Heidegger's explorations of all 
the other texts of the tradition are guided by these central questions and 
insights and, more often than not, they are explicitly put into relation with 
it. The meaning of being as "standing presence" provides the guiding thread for 
understanding physis (the key to the pre-Socratics), logos (Heraclitus), noein, 
etc. etc. And to deinotaton in the Sophoclean Chorlied must also be view in what 
the "roving man" brings to stand...

So are you contradicting me, Paul, or simply given another slant by showing how 
important somw other non-philosophical texts (such as Sophocles or Hoelderlin) 
are for Heidegger? My aim was not to deny this importance but to point out that 
the clarity and precision with which Heidegger uses these texts for his 
question, which lies at the heart and in the heartland of the philosophical 
tradition.

Cheers, 
Michael
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