In 1940 Heidegger wrote, "...the spirit of the Greek language [griechischen
Sprachgeist], which, to be sure , is implicitly philosophical and
metaphysical [unausgesprochenen philosophisch-metaphysischer] and is
therefore, along with Sanskrit and cultivated [gutverwahrten] German,
distinguished above every other language." (Nietzsche 4, p. 37/N2 73)
Interesting to have Heidegger including Sanskrit as a privileged langauge,
and to hear him attaching that privileged status to these language's
unspoken metaphysical character!
Derrida (in _Of Spirit_) is certainly onto something here: Heidegger seems
in these years to maintain a very ambivalent relationship with metaphysics,
and the occurences of Geist, in its various forms, woithout the quotes (the
border partol at the gates of meaning proscribed in B&T), definitely seems
to occur at moments when Heidegger is embracing metaphysics, rather than
identifying metaphysics and nihilism, e.g. (as he will come to do
decisively by 1944-46). I would add the further hypothesis that this
flirtation with a new metaphysics is integrally entwined with Heidegger's
relationship with Nietzsche (which evinces a similar ambivalence). This is
the only way I can make sense of Heidegger's strange claim (to Loewith in
1936) that the motivations behind his National Socialist commitments could
be seen in B&T, specifically in the notion of 'historicity.' In B&T
Heidegger develops the notion of historicity (paragraphs 75 & 76) in
connection with Nietzsche's second Untimely Meditation, an essay in which
Nietzsche calls for a revitalization of the German culture through the
assertion of new, life-empowering philosophical understandings. It may be
that in his pro-metaphysics, pro-spirit, pro-Nazi--in trying to play
Fuehrer to the Fuehrer--tendencies, Heidegger understood himself as taking
up Nietzsche's call for a new revitalized culture. This might then help
explain the infamous violence of the subsequent 'reading' whereby Heidegger
utterly rejects Nietzsche's solutions (to the problem of nihilism), if one
takes it as I do that Heidegger is distancing himself from National
Socialism via his critique of Enframing (elaborated in conjunction with
Heidegger's critical reading of Nietzsche, as Schuermann notes). This
scenario could perhaps even throw some light on the strange anecdote we
have from Gadamer, namely that Heidegger was fond of telling his young
intimates that 'Nietzsche had ruined him.'
Iain
>
>I think, that most of the above views are false. Heidegger never tried
>to find out if there are other languages than indo-european ones that
>might be even better to translate greek. If anyone knows about a study
>that investigates these points, I would be very interested in the
>source. Thanks.
>
>Ciao
>Martin
>
>other language
>Martin Baeuerle
>Sprachlernzentrum Universitaet Bonn
>0228/735368
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
Sprachgeist], which, to be sure , is implicitly philosophical and
metaphysical [unausgesprochenen philosophisch-metaphysischer] and is
therefore, along with Sanskrit and cultivated [gutverwahrten] German,
distinguished above every other language." (Nietzsche 4, p. 37/N2 73)
Interesting to have Heidegger including Sanskrit as a privileged langauge,
and to hear him attaching that privileged status to these language's
unspoken metaphysical character!
Derrida (in _Of Spirit_) is certainly onto something here: Heidegger seems
in these years to maintain a very ambivalent relationship with metaphysics,
and the occurences of Geist, in its various forms, woithout the quotes (the
border partol at the gates of meaning proscribed in B&T), definitely seems
to occur at moments when Heidegger is embracing metaphysics, rather than
identifying metaphysics and nihilism, e.g. (as he will come to do
decisively by 1944-46). I would add the further hypothesis that this
flirtation with a new metaphysics is integrally entwined with Heidegger's
relationship with Nietzsche (which evinces a similar ambivalence). This is
the only way I can make sense of Heidegger's strange claim (to Loewith in
1936) that the motivations behind his National Socialist commitments could
be seen in B&T, specifically in the notion of 'historicity.' In B&T
Heidegger develops the notion of historicity (paragraphs 75 & 76) in
connection with Nietzsche's second Untimely Meditation, an essay in which
Nietzsche calls for a revitalization of the German culture through the
assertion of new, life-empowering philosophical understandings. It may be
that in his pro-metaphysics, pro-spirit, pro-Nazi--in trying to play
Fuehrer to the Fuehrer--tendencies, Heidegger understood himself as taking
up Nietzsche's call for a new revitalized culture. This might then help
explain the infamous violence of the subsequent 'reading' whereby Heidegger
utterly rejects Nietzsche's solutions (to the problem of nihilism), if one
takes it as I do that Heidegger is distancing himself from National
Socialism via his critique of Enframing (elaborated in conjunction with
Heidegger's critical reading of Nietzsche, as Schuermann notes). This
scenario could perhaps even throw some light on the strange anecdote we
have from Gadamer, namely that Heidegger was fond of telling his young
intimates that 'Nietzsche had ruined him.'
Iain
>
>I think, that most of the above views are false. Heidegger never tried
>to find out if there are other languages than indo-european ones that
>might be even better to translate greek. If anyone knows about a study
>that investigates these points, I would be very interested in the
>source. Thanks.
>
>Ciao
>Martin
>
>other language
>Martin Baeuerle
>Sprachlernzentrum Universitaet Bonn
>0228/735368
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---