Heidegger and postmodernism: considerations on language

Abstract

Postmodernism has given language and discourse a prominent role in the Humanities. Such concern with language can be seem seen as a result of the influential work of Martin Heidegger, who criticized the Cartesian tradition and advocated a new way of doing Philosophy. This essay examines how Heidegger’s ideas and especially the language he used in his main work, Sein und Zeit , have given rise to theoretical perspectives that can be interpreted both as a genial rupture with philosophical tradition and as a complete failure to engage in meaningful political agency outside the discursive arena.