Heidegger Research Articles

Teaching as Dwelling Between Two Worlds: Reflection of Being an Educator in the Post-Pandemic Era

This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19 on education, focusing on the rapid shift to online learning. It raises concerns about the ethical implications of AI-generated writing and critiques the dominance of technocratic rationality in education. Drawing from Ted Tetsuo Aoki and Martin Heidegger’s works, it explores the notion of technology, poetic dwelling, and the educators’ beingness in a post-pandemic era. This paper challenges instrumental views on curriculum, teaching, and technology through personal reflections and theoretical analysis, advocating for an existential and poetic understanding. This paper urges rethinking educational practices to embrace human complexity and foster genuine engagement with knowledge.

From Gestell to Deep Ecology: resonances of Martin Heidegger's thought in the contemporary ecophilosophical scenario

From Gestell to Deep Ecology: resonances of Martin Heidegger's thought in the contemporary ecophilosophical scenario

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A State of Openness: Gurlesque Existentialism in Mare Kandre’s Bübins unge and Aliide, Aliide This article examines the combination of gurlesque aesthetics and existentialist themes of anxiety in Mare Kandre’s Bübins unge (1987) and Aliide, Aliide (1991). My ambition is to enable a deeper understanding of what I call “the Dark Girlhood”, that is, the existential pain that Kandre’s female characters constantly seem to experience. While previous readings take the social conditions of the characters as their starting point in analyzing the existential darkness of the novels, I show how their dark girlhood can be read as a fundamental human suffering outside the categories of male and female, even if the depicted existential anxiety stems from female experiences. Based on the term gurlesque and Martin Heidegger's view on anxiety, the article shows that Kandre’s dark girlhood can be regarded an expression of gurlesque existentialism – a term that, in addition to encircling an aesthetical and philosophical dimension of the motif, shows that the seemingly unrelated orientations of existentialism and gurlesque can blend together and create something new.

Which came first, being or the boundary? Approaching the question of the boundary through the work of Martin Heidegger

Which came first, being or the boundary? Approaching the question of the boundary through the work of Martin Heidegger

Karl Löwith on the I–thou relation and interpersonal proximity

Current research on second-person relations has often overlooked that this is not a new topic. Addressed mostly under the heading of the “I–thou relation,” second-person relations were discussed by central figures of the phenomenological tradition, including Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, but also quite extensively by much lesser-known authors, such as Karl Löwith, Ludwig Binswanger, and Semyon L. Frank, whose work has been undeservedly neglected in current research. This paper starts off by arguing that, in spite of the rightly acknowledged differences between the Husserlian and the Heideggerian approaches to the investigation of the social world, both approaches converge in the claim that the I–thou relation is founded on more basic forms of sociality. In a second step, against the background of Frank’s and Binswanger’s challenges to that claim, I argue that Löwith’s proposal that the I–thou relation is a primordial form of sociality can be vindicated by conceptualizing I–thou relations as close personal relationships (paradigmatically exemplified by companion friendships and romantic partnerships). After assessing how Löwith’s approach to the I–thou relation stands vis-à-vis Heidegger’s and Husserl’s views, I conclude by suggesting how Löwith’s approach can contribute to current research on second-person relations.

The Keep. Uncanny Propriation: Derrida’s Marrano Objection

This essay attempts to offer some reflections on what it is that Jacques Derrida found uncomfortable in Martin Heidegger’s thought at the level of fundamental gestures. The region of disagreement is located in Derrida’s self-identification in a marrano register at an autographic level. This paper studies the notions of propriation and expropriation in Heidegger’s late texts and compares them to Derrida’s ‘uncanny propriation’ as a marrano notion. I offer four propositions regarding Derrida’s marranismo, which I align with Derrida’s proposal for desecularization, tentatively described as a ‘messianic engagement with the khora’. I conclude with a proposal for the development of ontic models of marrano action that would antecede the theory/practice divide.

Temporality and translation: Thematic and non-thematic narrative

Narrative theorists broadly agree that stories are important to both being and knowing. There is less agreement, however, as to exactly how deep narrative goes. The strongest narrativists—such as David Carr and Alisdair MacIntyre—argue that story is so fundamental that human existence itself has an intrinsic narrative structure. The strongest anti-narrativists—such as Galen Strawson and Peter Lamarque—suggest that narrative is merely one way of knowing among others and enjoys no privileged ontological or epistemological status. A closely related question concerns how seemingly diverse forms of narration such as fiction, history, the small stories of daily interaction and storied (or story-like) modes of cognition relate to one another. The crux of the issue, I suggest, lies in the relationship between narrative and the human experience of time. The central argument, drawing on the existential hermeneutics of Martin Heidegger and Paul Ricœur, is that narrative and the human experience of time are non-identical but intimately connected through a continuous process of existential translation. It proceeds in four stages: (1) we should distinguish between explicit, thematic storytelling and the everyday, non-thematic experience of time; (2) narration is a type of translation which thematizes and allows some interpretive possibilities to be recognized while masking others; (3) this type of translation produces narratives which are, to some extent, object-like; (4) this allows the operation of distanciation, opening the possibility of new understanding through ‘second-order disclosure’. I suggest that this existential approach can usefully inform and expand our understanding of both narrative and translation. A synopsis of this article can be found here.

Understanding Gogol’s life and actions

Paraphrasing Martin Heidegger, who repeatedly stated that “we are still not thinking”, it can be said that we still do not understand Gogol well. The article contains a reconstruction of the creative image of N.V. Gogol, which acts as a methodological basis for analyzing the personality of a writer or scientist. A hermeneutical analysis of the ideas in the book by Aleksey Davydov, published on the occasion of the anniversary of the great Russian writer, as well as the work “Gogol’s Disease” by the famous Russian psychiatrist and writer V.F. Chizh, which appeared at the very beginning of the twentieth century, is presented. A. Davydov’s book “The Soul of Gogol” seems to be directly aimed against the psychiatric understanding of the tragedy of our great writer. Davydov does not deny Gogol’s mental illness, but considers it secondary, derived from another deeper cause, which is of a purely social, or rather sociocultural nature. This reason is sociocultural contradictions (sociocultural split), which the writer could not overcome within himself

Translation Notes: Heidegger, Derrida, and the Chance for (a) Philosophy

This paper aims to show that translation is not only a fully-fledged philosophical problem, but also a specific philosophical praxis and a test bed for extracting the core of different philosophical frameworks. For this purpose, I will take into consideration the respective philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida. Even if Heidegger often practices translation from the Greek in his own works and adds a few remarks towards an original investigation of this activity, he ultimately understands translation as a ‘makeshift’ or as a ‘shipwreck’. Throughout his contestation of Heidegger’s position, Derrida shows the trap of the endless appropriation of the experience of the origin structure. He also frees up the discourse by putting the hierarchical polarization between the original and the translation into question. Thus, translation becomes a chance for philosophy, even for Derrida’s deconstruction, a chance to generate new paths for investigation and to keep its question open.

Appropriation of Digital Machines and Appropriation of Fixed Capital as the Real Appropriation of Social Being: A Comment on Toni Negri’s Article “The Appropriation of Fixed Capital: A Metaphor?”

This article is a reflection and comment on Toni Negri’s essay “The Appropriation of Fixed Capital: A Metaphor?”. The comment first points out aspects of Negri’s reception of Marx. It stresses the continuities of the Grundrisse and Capital. In both, we can find a dialectical concept of technology. Second, this paper points out that Negri’s notion of the appropriation of technology/fixed capital should best be read as a critique of techno-optimism à la Marshall McLuhan and of techno-pessimism à la Martin Heidegger. Negri advances a dialectical concept of appropriation that is focused on the appropriation, and therefore transformation, of technology and society. Third, this reflection asks: What does it mean to appropriate digital machines? Concrete strategies of digital appropriation are outlined. The author argues that commons-public partnerships can be powerful political means of struggle against digital capitalism.Acknowledgement: This article was first published as a book chapter. It is reproduced based on a Creative Commons licence. Original source: Fuchs, Christian. 2019. Appropriation of Digital Machines and Appropriation of Fixed Capital as the Real Appropriation of Social Being: Reflections on Toni Negri’s Chapter. In Digital Objects, Digital Subjects: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Capitalism, Labour and Politics in the Age of Big Data, 215-221. London: University of Westminster Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book29.s

Ecologising moral education in the anthropocene: Learning to be authentic non-self

ABSTRACT In the Anthropocene epoch, human activity is ubiquitous on Earth. However, this does not imply that nature is entirely under human control. The growing number of natural disasters that afflict human beings demonstrates the limitations of human abilities. Unfortunately, many of these catastrophes are caused by humans themselves. The adversity caused by human activity indicates that the current approach to education, which prioritises humanity above all other living beings and exerts control over nature through technology, is problematic. This calls for a reconsideration and re-examination of the underlying anthropocentrism. It is important to avoid prioritising humanity exclusively and instead to consider the impact of our actions on the planet and all its inhabitants. To deconstruct the anthropocentric ethos implied in current education, this paper draws inspiration from Michael Bonnett, Michel Serres, Martin Heidegger, and Daoism to draw on intercultural wisdom in addressing the global ecological problem—the Anthropocene predicament—and the related need to ecologise moral education. It argues that reconceiving the human subject as non-self holds the key to thwarting the anthropocentric crisis. The new conceptualisation of the human subject paves the way for ecologising moral education in the Anthropocene. This paper proposes that ecologising moral education can attune individuals to the ecological world by integrating Heideggerian meditative thinking as Gelassenheit and Daoist Wú-practice. This can lead to the construction of a new partnership between humans and nature.

Self-abnegation, Decentering of Objective Relations, and Intuition of Nature: Toomas Altnurme’s and Cao Jun’s Art

Abstract This article analyzes the artwork of two seemingly distant contemporary artists – Toomas Altnurme and Cao Jun – elucidating their creative processes through the theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger, Sigmund Freud, and Henri Bergson. In Section 1, I offer reasons for a side-by-side examination of Altnurme’s and Jun’s art. In my discussion of Altnurme’s art in Section 2, I argue that his process exemplifies Heidegger’s view that artists must abnegate themselves in order for their creations to come into being. In Section 3, I elucidate Jun’s painting in its power to decenter the usual, object-oriented, circumspection of the mind. I ground my analyses in Freud’s concept of dream logic. Freud’s work on dreams allows me to approach Jun’s creative process as a work of translation whereby the artist translates the preconscious elements into images that we – the audience – then see on canvas. In Section 4, where I offer a comparative examination of both artists, I rely on Bergson’s articulation of the importance of intuition in order to show that both Altnurme and Jun create artworks that disclose to us the non-objective dimension of life wherein action or process and possibility take precedence over objectively existing things.

Beyond Aesthetics: Ekphrasis and the Poetic Engagement with Art

The present study examines ekphrasis as a conduit for facilitating a more profound and meaningful engagement with the mysteries of the works of art and as a means of transcending established notions of aesthetics, dismantling the conventional subject/object dichotomy, resisting the pervasive technological enframing of our world, and fostering a mode of dwelling characterized by its poetic essence. The study aims to demonstrate that by intertwining language and visual representation, ekphrasis challenges our assumptions regarding the nature of beauty, invites us to see beyond the surface of things and opens us new possibilities for understanding and interpretation. Anchored in the philosophical framework of Martin Heidegger, the investigation illuminates the potent role of ekphrasis in disrupting customary modes of perception, compelling a reconsideration of our engagement with art in a manner that aligns with authenticity, immersive involvement and poetic mode of dwelling to cultivate a deeper embeddedness in the world and to foster a sense of wonder and appreciation in our encounter with the interconnectedness of entities.

Eric S. Nelson: <i>Heidegger and Dao: Things, Nothingness, Freedom</i>

Eric S. Nelson: <i>Heidegger and Dao: Things, Nothingness, Freedom</i>

“There is never any ending to Paris”: Manifestations of Spatiality in Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast

Abstract Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast (1964) contains an array of his memories of the time he spent in Paris in the first half of the 1920s. The work provides an ideal vehicle to explore the connection of spatiality to memory and text production along with how imagined geography relates to empirical geography. The essay deploys a theoretical apparatus relying on the works of Martin Heidegger, Henry Lefebvre, Edward Soja, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, Guy Debord, Pierre Nora, and Walter Benjamin in its investigation of a psycho-geography composed by Hemingway. The essay aims to discuss how spatiality can contribute to the construction of personal history and in what way it can promote text production, and it will also explore the impact of space on the psychological and emotional condition of the individual. (AT)

Гуманність і самозбереження. Кант чи Гайдеґер?

Kant’s practical philosophy revolves around the concepts of pure reason, autonomy, law and obligation. But for them, terms such as humanity and self-mastery (Selbstherrschaft) are also of great importance. According to Kant, these terms concretize the reason and goal of our ethical and legal-political actions. In a first step, the meaning of these terms at the end of the four Kantian questions (What can I know? What should I do? What can I hope? What is man?) is explained. In a second step, Martin Heidegger’s criticism of humanism (and thus also of Kant) is presented and in a third step the consequences that his view of thinking has for law and politics are discussed: Heidegger’s thinking stands with his negation of philosophy, ethics and science in the service of a politics of immaturity.

Sartre and the Phenomenology of Pain: A Closer Look

Conventionally distinguished as a problem for medical professionals, experiences of embodied pain have prompted a significant set of themes and perspectives in the Continental tradition of philosophy. The discipline of phenomenology, in particular, offers thought-provoking approaches for understanding the fullness and diversity of living one’s pain in everyday life. In contrast to scientific practices that tend to take for granted the subjective structures of human consciousness in action, the phenomenological framework of lived experience offers profoundly subtle accounts for explaining how a person’s pain alters their ways of relating to themselves, to others, and to the wider world around them. In recent years, scholars of phenomenology have undertaken extensive research on the complex relationality between health and human consciousness, including the behavioral grids and existential textures that come with that relationship. Greatly influenced by twentieth century phenomenology, this new development in the scholarship has undergone three distinct waves. The first wave focused on the work of Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer to develop a hermeneutic of healthcare practice; the second wave incorporated Maurice Merleau-Ponty to understand illness from an increasingly carnal point of view; and the third and most recent wave has relied primarily on Edmund Husserl to construct the intentionality involved with the consciousness of pain.

History of Error: Jacob Taubes’s Apocalyptic Interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s Vom Wesen der Wahrheit

Abstract Through a close reading of the opening pages of Occidental Eschatology, this paper analyzes how Jacob Taubes relied on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy to understand the nature of eschatology. Taubes implemented Heidegger’s notions of truth, error, and history from his seminal essay “On the Essence of Truth,” (mis)interpreting the essay by ascribing an eschatological meaning to it. This surprisingly allowed him to find in Heidegger a model to come to terms with the Jewish experience of history. In order to fully understand this untimely use of Heidegger’s work, the paper turns its attention to the correspondence of Jacob Taubes with his first wife, Susan Taubes. The conclusion asks to what extent Jacob Taubes’s uncritical use of Heidegger’s thinking plays into the latter’s notorious antisemitism.

Hermeneutics before Ontology: How Later Levinas Better Understands Heidegger

Abstract This paper examines Emmanuel Levinas’s philosophical development from Totality and Infinity to Otherwise than Being as a self-critique and revised understanding of Martin Heidegger. It focuses on later Levinas’s analysis of language in terms of the difference between Saying and Said. For Levinas, the Said represents the betrayal of ethical Saying into ontological essence. This echoes Heidegger’s notion of the forgetfulness of Being in beings. However, Levinas critiques Heidegger’s own philosophy as remaining within the Said. The paper explores three strategies of “unsaying” that Levinas discerns in Western philosophy to disrupt ontological Said: ontology itself, skepticism, and philosophical conversation. It argues that Levinas ultimately seeks an alternative “prophetic” mode of language beyond philosophy that enacts difference, which the paper relates to Talmud. The paper claims that the later Levinas no longer simply opposes Greek to Jewish thought, but rather seeks to deploy a specifically Jewish form of language to interrupt Western metaphysics from within.

Поэтичность техники: переосмысливая Хайдеггера в условиях позднего капитализма

The article is devoted to the problem of the relationship between technology and poetry, first posed in contemporary philosophy by Martin Heidegger. Due to the qualitative changes in technology and the transition from industrial capitalism to post-industrial capitalism this issue becomes relevant again. Since the philosophy of technology has long focused on the problem of the machine, it should be put in a more modern context. The research reconstructs the contradictions defined by the Heideggerian philosophy of technology between technology and poetry, understood as the essence of language and creative activity. The paper shows that modern technology, which primarily involves the communicative abilities of an employee, largely eliminates the contradiction between technical and poetic in the field of art and labor. This makes it necessary to rethink the role of technology in the process of achieving harmony between technology and language. Thus, the author concludes that although the phenomenon of alienation persists, technology can become a means to overcome it, provided that it is appropriately articulated.