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Being Martin Heidegger
History’s most difficult philosopher?
Understanding Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) is no easy task. That statement is not only about his philosophy but about him as a person. He was Edmund Husserl’s other most notable student, working as Husserl’s assistant after Edith Stein had moved on. When Husserl retired in 1929, he recommended Heidegger be his successor to the chair of philosophy in Freiburg, Germany, a recommendation the university accepted. When the Nazis came to power and seized control of all universities, Heidegger joined the Nazi Party. He was then appointed rector of the University of Freiburg, but he resigned a few months later for reasons he never made clear. Scholars have ever since debated how much Heidegger agreed with Nazi ideology. The position that he did is buttressed by statements in his written papers and the fact that even though he lived and lectured for more than 30 years after the war, he never formally condemned the Nazis. We will talk about Heidegger’s ideas, just as, for example, we talked about Aristotle’s ideas even though Aristotle supported the abhorrent idea that certain people are…
