I essentially agree with Alison's stance, though I do think that certain
core areas of Heidegger's thinking, being exactly in step (goose-pun
intended) with his time, lent themselves much more easily to fascist than to
left-wing leanings or excesses. The insistence on earth / volk / etc. are
absolutely core motives in fascist / nazi ideology -- & H got to the "Volk"
as solution early on, i.e. in the late 20s in the final chapters of _Sein &
Zeit_. (BTW, the best book on the ropots of fascism unhappily still remains
untranslated from the Frenmch as far as I know, & is Jean-Pierre Faye's _Les
Langages Totalitaires_). The problem for me is wider, philosophically
speaking: any philosophy of "Being" is at risk of such or similar excesses,
which is why I have always argued for a philosophy of "becoming." For a
recent take, too long to rehash here, see my response to Adrian Clarke in
the current _Open Letter_ ( at the following url:
http://www.arts.uwo.ca/openlet/11.3/letters/012b.pdf )
The Celan poem Alison refers to is "Todtnauberg" (it begins with the word
"Eyebright") & is the record of Celan's visit to H's hut in the Black
Forest -- a visit that went very badly, from Celan's point of view, as the
text of the poem shows,if one digs deep enough, by returning etymologically
to root cyphers for fascism (see my essay "Celan/Heidegger:Translation at
the Mountain of Death"
http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/joris/todtnauberg.html )
A belated nappy ewe's ear for everyone,
Pierre
>
> I thought the most controversial aspect of Heidegger was that he
> _never_ apologised or even commented on his support for Nazism.
> (That famous "eyebright" poem of Celan's, for instance, or Derrida
> and Habermas' comments that his post-war silence was his real crime).
>
> One analysis of Heidegger that makes sense to me is Rorty's: he
> claims that H would have thought and written much the same things
> about Being and Time had he been a liberal and had spoken out against
> anti-Semitism. He argues against the claim that Heidegger's Nazism
> was an essential part of his philosophy (unlike Richard Wolin, say,
> in The Politics of Being). Rorty's fantasy of a Heidegger with an
> alternative biography is impossible to prove, of course; but he does
> argue pretty convincingly that H's thought is compatible with various
> political stances, and that Heidegger was full of contradictions,
> like most people, and ought to be approached in that light. And
> there's a certain crudity in simply saying that Heidegger was a Nazi
> and therefore anyone who reads him is an acolyte of Hitler.
>
> Best
>
> A
________________________________________________________________
Pierre Joris Just out from Wesleyan UP:
6 Madison Place
Albany NY 12202 POASIS: Selected Poems 1986-1999
Tel: (518) 426-0433
Fax: (518) 426-3722 go to: http://www.albany.edu/~joris/poasis.htm
Email: joris@ albany.edu
Url: <http://www.albany.edu/~joris>
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