22.10.

2015

AMasterFromGermany

AMasterFromGermany
OneofthegreatestWesternphilosopherswasalsoaNazi.
ByRICHARDRORTY

anypeoplewholearnthatMartin
Heidegger(18891976)liedoverand
overagainabouthisNazism,andthathedid
hisbesttoignorethemurderoftheEuropean
Jews,concludethathiswritingscanbe
neglected.Forthosewhocareabout
philosophy,however,thingsarenotthat
simple.
Heideggerwasaresentful,ungenerous,
MARTINHEIDEGGER
disloyalanddeceitfulman.Buthesomehow
BetweenGoodandEvil.
managedtowritebooksthatareaspowerful
ByRdigerSafranski.
andasoriginalasSpinoza'sorHegel's.Hans
TranslatedbyEwaldOsers.
GeorgGadamer,JeanPaulSartre,Emmanuel
474pp.Cambridge,Mass.:
HarvardUniversityPress.$35.
Levinas,HannahArendt,MichelFoucault,
JacquesDerridaandJurgenHabermasallcut
theirteethonthosebooks.Youcannotread
mostoftheimportantphilosophersofrecent
timeswithouttakingHeidegger'sthoughtintoaccount.
RdigerSafranski'sevenhandedstudy,''MartinHeidegger:BetweenGood
andEvil''(inacapabletranslationbyEwaldOsers),isequallysuccessfulat
illustratingitssubject'spettinessandatdisplayingthevastpowerofhis
imagination.Itisthefirstcomprehensivebiographyoftheman,and
supersedesbothVictorFarias's''HeideggerandNazism''andHugoOtt's
''MartinHeidegger:APoliticalLife.''Itreportsmanyfactsthatthesebooks
didnot,anditoffersadetailedaccountofHeidegger'sintellectual
developmentrelatinghistwistsandturns,withgreatskillandremarkable
concision,toGermanintellectualandpoliticallifeinthefirsthalfofthis
century.
Safranski,theauthorof''SchopenhauerandtheWildYearsofPhilosophy,''
neverstepsbackandpronouncesjudgmentonHeidegger,butsomethingcan
beinferredfromtheGermantitleofhisbook:''EinMeisterausDeutschland''
(''AMasterFromGermany'').Heideggerwas,undeniably,amaster,andwas
veryGermanindeed.ButSafranski'sspinechillingallusionistoPaulCelan's
bestknownpoem,''DeathFugue.''InMichaelHamburger'stranslation,its
lastlinesare:
deathisamasterfromGermanyhiseyesareblue
hestrikesyouwithleadenbulletshisaimistrue
amanlivesinthehouseyourgoldenhairMargarete
hesetshispackonushegrantsusagraveintheair
heplayswiththeserpentsanddaydreamsdeathisamasterfromGermany
yourgoldenhairMargarete
yourashenhairShulamith.
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NoonefamiliarwithHeidegger'sworkcanreadCelan'spoemwithout
recallingHeidegger'sfamousdictum:''LanguageisthehouseofBeing.Inits
homemandwells.''Nobodywhomakesthisassociationcanrereadthepoem
withouthavingtheimagesofHitlerandHeideggertwomenwhoplayed
withserpentsanddaydreamedblendintoeachother.Heidegger'sbooks
willbereadforcenturiestocome,butthesmellofsmokefromthe
crematoriesthe''graveintheair''willlingerontheirpages.
Heideggeristheantithesisofthesortofphilosopher(JohnStuartMill,
WilliamJames,IsaiahBerlin)whoassumesthatnothingultimatelymatters
excepthumanhappiness.Forhim,humansufferingisirrelevant:philosophy
isfarabovesuchbanalities.HesawthehistoryoftheWestnotintermsof
increasingfreedomorofdecreasingmisery,butasapoem.''Being'spoem,''
heoncewrote,''justbegun,isman.''
ForHeidegger,historyisasequenceof''wordsofBeing''thewordsofthe
greatphilosopherswhogavesuccessivehistoricalepochstheirselfimage,
andtherebybuiltsuccessive''housesofBeing.''ThehistoryoftheWest,
whichHeideggeralsocalledthehistoryofBeing,isanarrativeofthe
changesinhumanbeings'imageofthemselves,theirsenseofwhatultimately
matters.Thephilosopher'stask,hesaid,isto''preservetheforceofthemost
elementarywords''topreventthewordsofthegreat,housesofBeing
buildingthinkersofthepastfrombeingbanalized.
Heideggerwobbledbackandforthbetweenaselfeffacingconceptionofthe
philosopherastheinterpreterofanalreadywrittenpoemandanegomaniacal
beliefintheworldhistoricalimportanceofhisownwork.Inthelattermood,
hehopedthathehimselfwouldcompletethestanzaofBeing'spoemthat
Platohadbegunthathewouldutterawordthatwouldcome,asArendt
saidbothPlato'sandHeidegger'sdid,''fromtheprimordial.''WhenHitler
camealong,thepropheticmoodtookover.
AsSafranskitellsus,Heidegger,whowasborninMesskirch,insouthern
Germany,thesonofasexton,startedoutasareactionaryRomanCatholic,
butafterWorldWarIhebrokewiththechurch.Hethenfoundawayto
packageNietzscheandTolstoy,KierkegaardandDostoyevskyintoan
academicallyrespectablephilosophicalsystem.Hereshapedwhathadbeen
thoughtofasmerelyliterarymatterintoadoctrineofthenatureofhuman
life.His''BeingandTime''changedthecourseofEuropeanphilosophyby
breakingdownbarriersbetweengenres,barriersnooneelsehadbeenableto
surmount.
Thatbook,withitsNietzscheancalltoauthenticity,resolutionand
decisiveness,wasaninstantsuccess.Thissuccessencouragedtheegomania
thatletHeideggerimaginethatheandHitlercouldworktogetherto
transformGermany.HeideggerwasobliviousofthetormentofhisJewish
friendsandcolleagues,butafterayearofhecticpropagandizingand
organizing,hedidnoticethattheNazihigherupswerenotpayingmuch
attentiontohim.Thissufficedtoshowhimthathehadoverestimated
NationalSocialism.
Soheretreatedtohismountaincabinand,asSafranskinicelysays,traded
decisivenessforimperturbability.AfterWorldWarII,heexplained,
imaginativelyalbeitmonomaniacally,thatAmericanization,modern
technology,thetrivializationoflifeandtheutterforgetfulnessofBeing(four
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names,hethought,forthesamephenomenon)wereirreversible.Hislast
worksarelyricsofresignationoftenverybeautifullyrics,thoughsoiledby
theeventsthatledHeideggertowritethem.
Safranski,appropriately,devotesthreequartersofhisbooktoHeidegger's
writingsandonlyonequartertotheeventsofhislife.Heentwinesthetwoin
anarrativethatwillengrossthosealreadyfamiliarwithHeidegger,butwill
beintelligibletothosewhoarenot.Ifyoushoulddecidethatyouought,
despiteeverything,toreadHeidegger'sbooks,thisbiographywillgiveyoua
goodrunningstart.
RichardRortyhasrecentlypublishedtwobooks,''AchievingOurCountry:
LeftistThoughtinTwentiethCenturyAmerica''andacollectionof
philosophicalarticlestitled''TruthandProgress.''
ReturntotheBooksHomePage

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