The Essence of Truth (aletheia) and the Western Tradition in the Thought of Heidegger and Patočka (EN 2017) (original) (raw)
Related papers
This article in the form of “reflections” is devoted mainly to the image-building of Heidegger in Russia as a thinker of Being, a conservative critic of late modernity and a “post” philosopher. On the one hand, due to French post-modernism influence on late Soviet and post-Soviet philosophy Russia has developed a special interest in Heidegger’s deconstruction theory. On the other hand, the reception of Heidegger’s criticism of European nihilism, totalitarianism and machine technology as the manifestations of modernity has shaped significantly the account of the “political”. The specifics of Russian reception of Heidegger can also be traced in the rejection of strict division between the “core” of Heidegger’s philosophy and “accidental” conditions related to social and political aspects of his work in 1930s. The current discussion about recently published “Black notebooks” shows not only the fact of existence of a separate language of description and analysis in Russian philosophical field but also an original tendency to holistic consideration of Heidegger’s thinking including not only his existential and historical reflections but also political passages and criticism of civilizational discourse. In addition to the reviews of “Black notebooks” by N.V. Motroshilova, V.V. Mironov and D. Mironova in the last year’s issues of the magazine “Voprosy filosofii” there are earlier works by N.V. Motroshilova, V.V. Bibikhin and A.V. Gulyga related to the debate on Heidegger’s political and ideological commitment which are in focus of attention.
Heidegger and post-colonial fascism
Nationalities Papers, 2017
Alexander Dugin is considered a fringe figure in contemporary Russia. Yet, his writings exert considerable influence and develop a virulent nationalism that exploits the vocabulary of post-colonial resistance in an unaccustomed way. Dugin should not be ignored, and this article gives a brief account of Dugin's peculiar brand of post-colonial thinking by reference to its central source: Martin Heidegger. Specifically, the article examines how Dugin adapts the anti-metaphysical thinking of Heidegger's most radical work of the 1930s – a thinking that seeks to renew Western thought in an other beginning – to the context of modern Russia as it tries to free itself from Western (American) domination. Dugin aims at nothing less than the creation of a new Russian identity and destiny that will not only save Russia but also, in a nod to Heidegger, renew the Western tradition itself from the “outside.” If Dugin's political project is ambitious, so is his interpretation of Heidegge...
Philosophical Dialogue: M. Heidegger and Modern Russian Anthropology
Classical anthropology saw a human being from the center of his existence, from his essence as inward, unchangeable foundation, the source of human power and uniqueness. So long time ago the anthropological paradigm about the priority of human interests over other forms of living appeared, the statement that a few centuries later resulted in ecological crisis. Synergic anthropology of S. Horujy presents the contemporary alternative to the anthropocentric paradigm, presenting the basic characteristic of a human being as the actual living modus of unlocking to the world through ontological boundary.
The Influence of Heidegger’s Thought on the Development of Philosophy in Ex-Yugoslav Countries
Human Studies, 2018
The purpose of the article is to present the outlines of the reception and the influence of Heidegger’s philosophy on the territory of former Yugoslavia. This reception and influence were in their essence co-conditioned by specific political, social and cultural circumstances in the region, which were throughout accompanied by “the syndrome of dehumanization”. The confrontation with Heidegger’s philosophy is therefore co-defined by the profoundly experienced crisis of European humanity. During both world wars the attempt of an overcoming of this crisis of humanity by the means of phenomenological and existentialist philosophy was the main focus of attention. The period after the Second World War is denoted by the linking of Marxism with Heidegger’s attempt to surpass philosophy as metaphysics through the perspective of the history of being; in this context we specifically discuss the Praxis philosophical school and the original philosophical thought of Vanja Sutlić. During the disintegration of Yugoslavia and in the period thereafter, besides the intensive appropriation of Heidegger’s thought through translations and interpretations, which also led to the thorough study of Slavic philosophical terminologies, post-Heideggerian ways of thinking came to the fore, together with the possibility for a new humanization within the wider European and global social framework.
In the Crosshairs of the Fourfold: Critical Thoughts on Aleksandr Dugin's Heidegger
This paper [preprint version, final text in Critical Horizons, 2020] has two central parts. In Part 1, we situate Dugin’s interpretation of Heidegger in relation to the better known, broadly left-liberal approaches to interpreting Heidegger’s thought, stressing Dugin’s unusual focus on the German thinker’s “middle” or Nazi-era texts, and showing how this periodizing optic affects Dugin’s culminating reading of Sein und Zeit and its key axiological notion of authenticity (Part 1). Part 2 examines Dugin’s appropriation of Heidegger’s radically pessimistic, trans-epochal critique of Western thought, centering around his striking reading of the esoteric notion of “the fourfold” or das Geviert. In this account, the essence of reality itself, the “crosshairs” of the fourfold, is provocatively depicted by Dugin as war, Polemos, Kampf, or Krieg, following the Heidegger of 1933-36. In a move which echoes Heidegger’s own post-1938 relativizations of all distinctions between Nazism, liberalism and socialism—as well as the Shoah and mechanized agriculture—we examine how the Russian thinker ends by obviating any distinctions between liberal or democratic and totalitarian regimes, war and peace, and genocide and consumerism. The entire Western legacy, from Plato to NATO (sic.), must be overcome in the “another beginning” destined for the new Russia, if it has the ears to hear. The concluding remarks consider the implications of our analysis in terms of the politics of Heidegger reception, on one hand, and Dugin’s reception, on the other. *Critical Horizons, 2020 (in press).
Alexander Dugin's Heideggerianism (International Journal of Political Theory)
[Pre-proof copy]. This paper argues for the central role of Martin Heidegger's thought in Alexander Dugin's political philosophy or political theory. Part one is a broad overview of the place of Heidegger in Dugin's political theory. Part two outlines how Dugin uses Heidegger to elaborate a specifically Russian political theory. Part three shows how apparently unphilosophical political concepts from Dugin's political theory have a Heideggerian meaning for him. Because of what he regards as a homology between the philosophical and the political, his readers must always be aware of the philosophical significance of his political concepts and vice versa. Tracing Heidegger's central role helps clarify Dugin's political thought.
Martin Heidegger and Russian Symbolist Philosophy
Studies in East European Thought, 1999
In this paper Russian Symbolist philosophy is represented primarily by Viacheslav Ivanov , but its conclusions are intended to be valid for other philosophers we classify as Symbolist, including Nikolai Berdiaev and S. L. Frank. It is posited that, by comparing Ivanov's cosmology, aesthetics, and anthropology to those of Martin Heidegger, one can reconceive of Symbolist philosophy as an existential hermeneutic. This, it is claimed, can help to identify a common basis among the Symbolist philosophers, and also to place Russian thought in the context of modern European philosophy and vice versa.
The Legacy of Heidegger the Statesman, Including a Critique of Aleksandr Dugin
2022
When thinking on the legacy of Heidegger, the Statesman, we are, of course, thinking of the legacy of a certain characterization of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger—specifically, his legacy as a political philosopher. This characterization does not appear to be too uncommon throughout the respective academic literature. Perhaps it is the Russian political strategist Aleksandr Dugin who firstly comes to mind, and today especially, when considering such a legacy. Yet, where Dugin stands within the story of Heidegger’s legacy as a political philosopher is yet to be decided. In order to place Dugin within the legacy of Heidegger, the Statesman, as strange as this may seem, we have to first decide upon the relationship between Dugin as a political strategist and his own theory. That is, we have to decide if Dugin has simply announced Heidegger’s da sein as the subject matter of a new political theory, or if he himself is also an activist of his Fourth Political Theory. Coming to such a decision may seem overly easy—we may want to say that Dugin, of course, is an activist of his own Fourth Political Theory. However, there is good reason for deciding otherwise. This article has been written with the intention of pursuing the legacy of Heidegger, the Statesman. In order to do so, we must firstly consider the relationship between Dugin and Fourth Political Theory. This relationship takes priority within the pursuit of this article. This is on account of the popularity which Dugin’s announcement of Fourth Political Theory was received with. Following the reflection on Dugin, I will consider Heidegger's value metaphysics and a novel economic interpretation of his metaphysics.
Gregory Fried (Ed.): Confronting Heidegger: A Critical Dialogue on Politics and Philosophy
Phenomenological Reviews, 2020
The book Confronting Heidegger: A Critical Dialogue in Politics and Philosophy does present the readers with the expected level of critical analysis needed to revise Heidegger’s literature in contemporary philosophical research. Given the discoveries that Heidegger himself was associated with German nationalism through the rise of the Third Reich and during the Second World War, the academic space has brought into question the extent to which Heidegger should be taken seriously. Additionally, Heidegger’s work has grown in popularity with the French scene in the mid-20th century, as well as with contemporary Americans. The notion of whether or not his works should be taught continues to be present in lecture halls and contemporary literature on German philosophy. Despite the concern towards the researchers that have built their academic careers on unpacking and clarifying Heidegger’s views, we must also address the theme of how we, as an academic community, should proceed with integrating the works of Heidegger in the philosophical literature, particularly within the branch of phenomenology. This book initially began as an exchange of correspondence between Gregory Fried and Emmanual Faye, which later on accepted commentaries from other scholars within the radar of Heidegger and phenomenological studies. The text contains a wide plethora of arguments both in favor and against allowing Heidegger to be read and discussed within academic circles, between researchers on one hand, as well as with students on the other. During my review and synthesis of the contributions to this text, I shall outline four primary areas of contextualizing Heidegger within the aforementioned theme: philosophical, historical, political, and academic. The philosophical portion shall outline the charges and defenses of Heidegger within the text itself, isolated by the commentaries of the contributors. The historical portion is going to elaborate on the historical scenarios in which Heidegger himself operated, and the extent to which such historical phenomena have shaped his thoughts and writing style. Thirdly, the political discussion is going to clarify how Heidegger’s affiliations with German nationalism influenced not only the nationalistic culture of Germany in the 20th century, but also how this has inevitably lead to the accusations of antisemitism. Lastly, the academic section is going to explore the extent to which the earlier three sections justify either allowing or rejecting Heidegger’s works in contemporary research. Surely, all four aspects of the review are interwoven with each other, in some cases with such convergence that it is perhaps difficult to delineate between them. Since understanding Heidegger’s place within the philosophical space is already a difficult task, this process of correctly delineating between the social contexts which are affected by him is also an obstacle towards maintaining ethical standards within contemporary research. As we shall see with the contributors of the texts, the priority of Heidegger scholars must be disambiguating his intentions and the contexts which were outside of his control, with events which Heidegger himself not only endorsed but supported one way or another.
Heidegger's Post-Western Politics
Political Research Quarterly, 2022
The revival of ideologically motivated right-wing political agitation across the Western world demands that its intellectual sources be discovered. Martin Heidegger has occupied a position among anti-liberal, anti-modernist, and anti-Western forces across the globe comparable to that of Karl Marx on the socialist Left. Yet scholars still lack the conceptual terminology for capturing the political import of his work. The recent publication of Heidegger's Black Notebooks provides an opportunity for rereading his central political works in order to recover their meaning for contemporary political movements. Such a rereading also illuminates the sources of Heidegger's remarkable and misunderstood influence on the political Right. It thus explains a matter of urgent and high importance for generalist political scientists.