Re: authenticity and naziism


I really doubt this assertion very much. I think there are *some* philosophies
which can be described this way and some which can't. Some, for example, can
not be *used* at all. Some lie fully outside the possibility of any simple
separation from some "real world" in which a Naziism occurs for which a
philosophy would be a kind of "tool" leaving the philosopher untouched. Still
others, as with my own thinking, are so substatively founded on nonviolence,
that it is no longer possible to see them as being capable of this.

Operative is a conception of "philosophy" which has a kind of morally neutral
status: this would be reserved thus for philosophies which purport (whether
truly or not) to be able to essentialize and fully bracket knowledge.
Heidegger's thought constitues a thinking which is *impossible* withouth
certain engagements taking place. His is thus a good example of the "unsealed"
transcendental philosophy. But as "unsealed", as developed out of lived-world
experience, and not "aside from it", it never the less lends itself in certain
ways ot the possibility of a Naziism. I think this is because he operates in
the naivete concerning violence which basically thinks that violence does not
have to be thematizeed, but before that, he operates in a "moral suspension"
with which many are familiar.



D. Westbrook writes:
>I think that any philosophy can be used to justify naziism if the
>philosopher is so inclined. The question, to my mind, is are there any
>necessary connections between a given philosophy and naziism and, if
>so, how do we interpret these? If Heidegger's "philosophy of
>authenticity" is intimately tied to naziism in some way (and I have yet
>to see any intelligent argument for or against this) it need not lead
>us either to abandon Heidegger or to embrace naziism. The adequacy (or
>even "truth") of such a philosophy may reside in its indicating the
>little nazi in us all, which seems on the whole to be the most likely
>case.
>
>David Westbrook
>Social and Political Thought
>York University
>dwest@xxxxxxxx
>
>
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---
Where there is peace, there is war.

Tom Blancato
tblancato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Eyes on Violence (nonviolence and human rights monitoring in Haiti)
Thoughtaction Collective (reparative justice project)




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