Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was born on the 26th of September 1889 in rural Meßkirch, Baden. His father worked as the sexton of the village church and raised him within a Catholic household. In 1903, the young man began training for the priesthood at a Jesuit seminary. Heart trouble forced his discharge from the seminary just weeks after he entered it in 1909. This medical setback led him to encounter the work of Franz Brentano during that brief period. He subsequently studied theology and scholastic philosophy at the University of Freiburg. By 1911, he had abandoned his priestly training to focus on recent philosophy instead. He turned specifically to Edmund Husserl's Logical Investigations during this shift. He graduated with a thesis titled The Doctrine of Judgment in Psychologism: A Critical-theoretical Contribution to Logic in 1914. The following year, he completed his habilitation thesis on Duns Scotus under Heinrich Rickert. Rickert was a neo-Kantian who influenced Heidegger through Husserl's phenomenology.
Heidegger published his main work Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) in 1927 while seeking qualification for a full professorship. The book introduced the term Dasein to describe the type of being humans possess. He argued that Dasein already holds a pre-ontological understanding that shapes how it lives within the world. This unitary structure is what he called being-in-the-world. He believed ordinary experience provides access to the meaning of being itself. Equipment reveals itself through its use rather than as isolated objects. When someone picks up a fork to eat dinner, they engage non-reflectively with an in-order-to-eat purpose. If the plastic fork snaps during the meal, it becomes present-at-hand for focal awareness. Heidegger identified three structural features of being-in-the-world: understanding, attunement, and discourse. Understanding represents our fundamental ability to do things and get around in the world. Attunement describes our way of finding ourselves thrust into situations where things matter. Discourse articulates the world into recognizable patterns of meaning. These features unify under the composite structure he termed care. Care links ahead-of-itself-being-already-in-the-world with being-amidst entities encountered within-the-world.
Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany on the 30th of January 1933. Heidegger was elected rector of the University of Freiburg on the 21st of April 1933. He assumed the position the following day and joined the Nazi Party on the 1st of May. That same month, he delivered his inaugural address titled The Self-assertion of the German University in a hall decorated with swastikas. Members of the Sturmabteilung and prominent Nazi officials attended this ceremony. During his tenure, some Nazi education officials viewed him as a rival while others found his efforts comical. Fellow Nazis ridiculed his philosophical writings as gibberish. He offered his resignation as rector on the 23rd of April 1934 and it was accepted four days later. Despite leaving office, he remained a member of both the academic faculty and the Nazi Party until the end of the war. In 1935, he gave a lecture referring to the inner truth and greatness of the Nazi movement. This statement included a parenthetical qualification about the confrontation of planetary technology and modern humanity that scholars argue was added later.
Heidegger's work underwent a change known as die Kehre or the Turn starting around 1930. By the 1940s, commentators noted a clear shift in focus from being and time to time and being. He published Contributions to Philosophy between 1936 and 1937 but did not release it until 1989, thirteen years after his death. His lectures on Friedrich Nietzsche ran from 1936 to 1940 and presented raw material for his established thought. These appeared in published form in 1961. The period also marked the beginning of his interest in the essence of technology. He delivered a talk titled The Origin of the Work of Art in 1935. The next year while in Rome, he gave his first lecture on Friedrich Hölderlin. Many works from the 1930s onwards include meditations on lines from Hölderlin's poetry. One example is Hölderlin's Hymn The Ister which became the subject of several lecture courses. In 1951, he wrote Building Dwelling Thinking which influenced architectural theorists. He proclaimed that language is the house of being during this later phase.
After World War II ended, French military authorities determined Heidegger should be blocked from teaching or participating in university activities due to his Nazi association. This occurred in late 1946 as France engaged in épuration légale within its occupation zone. Denazification procedures continued until March 1949 when he was pronounced a Mitläufer, the second lowest category of incrimination. No punitive measures were proposed against him following this ruling. This decision opened the way for his readmission to teaching at Freiburg University in the winter semester of 1950, 51. He was granted emeritus status and taught regularly from 1951 until 1958. By invitation, he continued teaching until 1967. In 1966, he gave an interview to Der Spiegel magazine attempting to justify his support of the Nazi Party. The agreement stipulated publication only five days after his death in 1976 under the title Only a God Can Save Us.
In 2014, Heidegger's Black Notebooks were published containing private journals written between 1931 and the early 1970s. These notebooks contain several examples of anti-Semitic sentiments that led to a reevaluation of his relation to Nazism. One entry reads world Judaism is ungraspable everywhere and doesn't need to get involved in military action while continuing to unfurl its influence. Another instance states by living according to the principle of race Jews had themselves promoted the very reasoning by which they were now being attacked. The concept of world Judaism appeared first in the anti-Semitic text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and later in Hitler's Mein Kampf. Entries also show Heidegger writing critically of biological racism and biological oppression. A notable entry concerns his mentor Edmund Husserl specifically relating to Husserl's Jewish heritage. Donatella Di Cesare argued this implied Heidegger considered Husserl philosophically limited by his Jewishness. Recent research confirms the deep connection between Heidegger's philosophy and völkisch antisemitism found within these notebooks.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was Martin Heidegger born and where did he grow up?
Martin Heidegger was born on the 26th of September 1889 in rural Meßkirch, Baden. His father worked as the sexton of the village church and raised him within a Catholic household.
What major work did Martin Heidegger publish in 1927 and what key concept does it introduce?
Martin Heidegger published his main work Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) in 1927 while seeking qualification for a full professorship. The book introduced the term Dasein to describe the type of being humans possess.
How long did Martin Heidegger serve as rector of the University of Freiburg after joining the Nazi Party?
Martin Heidegger assumed the position of rector on the 22nd of April 1933 and offered his resignation on the 23rd of April 1934 which was accepted four days later. He remained a member of both the academic faculty and the Nazi Party until the end of the war despite leaving office.
Why were Martin Heidegger's Black Notebooks significant when they were published in 2014?
In 2014, Heidegger's Black Notebooks were published containing private journals written between 1931 and the early 1970s. These notebooks contain several examples of anti-Semitic sentiments that led to a reevaluation of his relation to Nazism.
When did Martin Heidegger die and what interview agreement was made regarding his death?
Martin Heidegger died in 1976 under an agreement stipulated for publication five days after his death titled Only a God Can Save Us. This interview with Der Spiegel magazine occurred in 1966 where he attempted to justify his support of the Nazi Party.