> A good example of this
>disdain was the treatment of the recent book on Arendt and Heidegger. It may
>be a bit "gossipy" in tone, but there is a lot that merits attention there.
Briefly,
Ettinger's book is an acrobatic avoidance of everything substantive about
the relationship between Heidegger and his politics. It eclipses all of
the most interesting components of Arendt and Heidegger's intellectual
relationship without really adding anything new or unknown about their
personal lives. It is striking that there are those that think that it
does. But even if it did, I am not sure than an analysis of the life
really gets you an analysis of the work. The life/work relationship is
where a great deal of the debate has hinged (I'm thinking for example of
Rorty) but there are other questions to be raised. Levinas is an example.
I for one have nothing against bringing in substantive debates about the
relationship between H.'s life and work, and I agree that H.'s silence
needs to be interrogated, but certainly there are better examples than this
one. It is, at best, unworthy of many of those who wish to politically
interrogate Heidegger's thought. A bibliography that included all of the
works of Sluga, Ott, and others with responses would be useful. I believe
that this may have been mentioned before.
Verne
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
>disdain was the treatment of the recent book on Arendt and Heidegger. It may
>be a bit "gossipy" in tone, but there is a lot that merits attention there.
Briefly,
Ettinger's book is an acrobatic avoidance of everything substantive about
the relationship between Heidegger and his politics. It eclipses all of
the most interesting components of Arendt and Heidegger's intellectual
relationship without really adding anything new or unknown about their
personal lives. It is striking that there are those that think that it
does. But even if it did, I am not sure than an analysis of the life
really gets you an analysis of the work. The life/work relationship is
where a great deal of the debate has hinged (I'm thinking for example of
Rorty) but there are other questions to be raised. Levinas is an example.
I for one have nothing against bringing in substantive debates about the
relationship between H.'s life and work, and I agree that H.'s silence
needs to be interrogated, but certainly there are better examples than this
one. It is, at best, unworthy of many of those who wish to politically
interrogate Heidegger's thought. A bibliography that included all of the
works of Sluga, Ott, and others with responses would be useful. I believe
that this may have been mentioned before.
Verne
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---