Subject: RE: Heidegger in Germany
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 08:53:45 -0000


Dear Greg,

Your point is gently made, but I do have some problems here.

For me being on this list presupposes that I think Heidegger's thought is
worth my time and enquiry.  He was not any old fool who took up philosophy
and harnessed it to ideology (like, say, Baeumler or Krieck).  He was (at
least in my reading) utterly committed to thinking.  To justify a critique
of him in the terms you announce is difficult for me:

"Somewhere" Heidegger went wrong in his thinking?  Where?  Isn't this a
task, to think through how and where?  What does it mean to say 'wrong'
here - is there a 'right' thinking and can I presuppose I'm just in it?
(There are, after all, no skeletons in the political cupboard of the modern
West to trouble me, are there?)  Do I never have to put my own thinking into
question in order to make these judgements?

There are great thinkers in the west, but how I come to understand that is
in itself part of the process of engaging with Heidegger and with who I am
also - or else is Western philosophy just a pantheon or a theme park?  To
come across this thinking, surely, will then raise questions about the
nature and character of the academy and how it too is operating?  In Britain
at least, this is not an abstract question - academic life is increasingly
being determined by economic and political processes which most academics
have few if any tools to make sense of, above accepting the inevitability of
courses determined by spreadsheets and balance-sheets.  No questions here
then?

Is it OK to make judgements about Heidegger because somewhere (else, other
than where I am) Heidegger went wrong in his thinking, and I can accept this
because someone (else, other than who I am) has decided this for me?  Or do
I need to bring myself into a serious relationship with Heidegger, a
relationship which also puts me and my orthodoxies at risk, if I am to make
any sense at all out of his political engagement?

Of course, I could be accused of taking for granted Heidegger's place as an
important thinker, but my reply is that it has been precisely in grappling
with questions like these that have brought me into repeated engagement with
Heidegger, and that led me quickly to dismiss the work of Baeumlers and
Kriecks.  Moreover, I do not want to downplay the seriousness of what is at
stake: I don't think it's possible to sanitise Heidegger to make him
'acceptable' (to whom?) - not least because the 20th Century too, is not a
theme park, and cannot be so easily sanitised itself.

I hope you take these comments as intended in the same spirit as I believe
motivated you to write to Michael - gently intended.

Laurence

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-heidegger-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> [mailto:owner-heidegger-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu]On Behalf Of
> GBORGERSON-AT-delphi.com
> Sent: 26 January 1999 18:59
> To: heidegger-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> Subject: Re: Heidegger in Germany
>
>
> Dear Micheal,
>
> 	I deeply respect your knowledge of Hiedegger and as I have felt
> in regards to Husserl, that Hiedegger is often misunderstood because
> his critics have not gone to the heart of his thinking. I
> very much agree
> with you that his work is mistakenly overlooked because of
> his political
> mistake.
>
> However,
>
> 	I am also in agreement with Henk. Somewhere, Heidegger
> went wrong
> with his thinking. I don't believe that it just a political
> misjudgement
> of a naieve philosopher. I think you are begging Henk's
> questions which
> are important and can only serve to strenghten Heidegger's
> work when these
> answers are disclosed. Perhaps in your dialog with Henk the
> anwsers to
> these questions can emerge if you both can maintain an
> openness to looking
> beyond the usual catagories and osified positions as I believe you are
> both interested in doing.
>
> 	That Heidegger is not being thought about is tragic, it seems to
> me that if Henk's questions could be answered honestly he could assume
> his rightful place as one of the most important thinkers in history.
>
>
> with my deepest respect,
>
> Greg Borgerson
>
>
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