Tom: You may be right that a philosophy of authenticity can amount to no
more than a regional ontology. A certain reading of Being and Time may find
that it amounts to nothing more than that. Edmund Husserl, to whom the work
was dedicated, seems to have thought so. Sartre's existentialism certainly
took inspiration from a reading that amounted perhaps to basically a
humanism or philosophy of authenticity -though certainly, more profoundly, a
cartesian reading.
For Heidegger though the question remained always the question about being.
This he stressed in Letter on Humanism, precisely to reject humanistic
interpretations of his thought. If Richardson is justified in ascribing a
"turn" to Heidegger's thought, the pivot, or juncture of that turn hinges
precisely on the implications of a humanistic reading. Perhaps this "turn"
away from a humanist reading, from a philosophy of authenticity if you will,
is also a turn away from a politically misguided choice: that of nazism. I
believe that Heidegger's choice of nazism is significant of his philosophy,
but I also believe that his thought moves beyond ideology. That is why I
bother reading him, like so many of you.
Danke schein
Bob
At , you wrote:
>Lois wrote:
>
>Eric, I believe, said he couldn't find anything Nazi in Heidegger. I made
>a suggestion that the notion that authenticity required a kind of
>awareness of one's mortality might lead Heidegger to think that
>fostering awareness of death by the mass killings in Nazi Germany would
>simply foster authenticity. It's a kind of way out suggestion, I admit.
>But a good response would be one that gave documentation against it, with
>quotes from B & T, for example.
>
>The question isn't just, would such a rationalization of the situation be
>inconsistent with his philosophy, the question is would such a
>rationalization be fostered by the philosophy of "authenticity". And
>remember, under the pressure of Nazi Germany a very vulnerable person
>might reach for straws to rationalize behaviors that would protect one's
>own life. And remember, it is true that Heidegger became a Nazi.
>
>..Lois Shawver
>
>
>
>On Thu, 28 Sep 1995, Tom Blancato wrote:
>
>
>> I want to develop
>> this more if you are interested. Heidegger doesn't develop the "freedom"
>> theme, I think.
>>
>
>
> --- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
>
>---Lois,
>
>There is no hope that I can see that a "philosophy of
>authenticity" can intrinsically free one from the dangers of
>falling into Nazism or concomitant bad rationalizations. I'm
>forced to conclude here that any philosophy of authenticity
>is still a regional ontology.
>
>Regards,
>
>Tom Blancato
>
>---
>There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.
>
>Tom Blancato
>tblancato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Eyes on Violence (nonviolence and human rights monitoring in Haiti)
>Thoughtaction Collective (reparative justice project)
>
>
>
>
> --- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
>
>
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
------------------
more than a regional ontology. A certain reading of Being and Time may find
that it amounts to nothing more than that. Edmund Husserl, to whom the work
was dedicated, seems to have thought so. Sartre's existentialism certainly
took inspiration from a reading that amounted perhaps to basically a
humanism or philosophy of authenticity -though certainly, more profoundly, a
cartesian reading.
For Heidegger though the question remained always the question about being.
This he stressed in Letter on Humanism, precisely to reject humanistic
interpretations of his thought. If Richardson is justified in ascribing a
"turn" to Heidegger's thought, the pivot, or juncture of that turn hinges
precisely on the implications of a humanistic reading. Perhaps this "turn"
away from a humanist reading, from a philosophy of authenticity if you will,
is also a turn away from a politically misguided choice: that of nazism. I
believe that Heidegger's choice of nazism is significant of his philosophy,
but I also believe that his thought moves beyond ideology. That is why I
bother reading him, like so many of you.
Danke schein
Bob
At , you wrote:
>Lois wrote:
>
>Eric, I believe, said he couldn't find anything Nazi in Heidegger. I made
>a suggestion that the notion that authenticity required a kind of
>awareness of one's mortality might lead Heidegger to think that
>fostering awareness of death by the mass killings in Nazi Germany would
>simply foster authenticity. It's a kind of way out suggestion, I admit.
>But a good response would be one that gave documentation against it, with
>quotes from B & T, for example.
>
>The question isn't just, would such a rationalization of the situation be
>inconsistent with his philosophy, the question is would such a
>rationalization be fostered by the philosophy of "authenticity". And
>remember, under the pressure of Nazi Germany a very vulnerable person
>might reach for straws to rationalize behaviors that would protect one's
>own life. And remember, it is true that Heidegger became a Nazi.
>
>..Lois Shawver
>
>
>
>On Thu, 28 Sep 1995, Tom Blancato wrote:
>
>
>> I want to develop
>> this more if you are interested. Heidegger doesn't develop the "freedom"
>> theme, I think.
>>
>
>
> --- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
>
>---Lois,
>
>There is no hope that I can see that a "philosophy of
>authenticity" can intrinsically free one from the dangers of
>falling into Nazism or concomitant bad rationalizations. I'm
>forced to conclude here that any philosophy of authenticity
>is still a regional ontology.
>
>Regards,
>
>Tom Blancato
>
>---
>There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.
>
>Tom Blancato
>tblancato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Eyes on Violence (nonviolence and human rights monitoring in Haiti)
>Thoughtaction Collective (reparative justice project)
>
>
>
>
> --- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
>
>
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
------------------