6 Comments
Jan 7, 2023Liked by John Quiggin

Gosh, Heidegger -the old Nazi. Did I read somewhere that he had some sort of intimate relationship with Hannah Arendt? I did a philosophy degree and I found Heidegger impenetrable. I think German is a language that often leans itself to vagueness, but I have heard German speakers express frustration about Heidegger’s impenetrability. In my view Heidegger and a lot of people who seem to have been inspired by his awful style (Sartre in Being and Nothingness) are just trying to conceal a lack of coherent argument behind dense, confusing and ambiguous prose. Zachary Clark argued that Keynes’s General Theory was abstruse and at times impenetrable because he wanted to pitch it to a technical audience that would try to interpret and expand his arguments. Was this the case with Heidegger? Doubtful. He just sat in his little cabin drinking endless cups of coffee and scribbling nonsense.

Expand full comment
Jan 7, 2023Liked by John Quiggin

And while we're at it, someone must know whether Heidegger ever learned about the existence of the reference to him in Monty Python's greatest metaphysical testament: the 'Philosopher's Song,' which appeared on disc three years before Heidegger's death. ('Heidegger, Heidegger / Was a boozy beggar / Who could drink you under the table').

Expand full comment

mmm. Like most people these days I am shocked by the consequences of the nationalism that fuelled the german phenomenon led by hitler. A long time ago I did a PhD using Heideggerian philosophy and found the language difficult, ie the translation. I read the translation of Being and Time end to end. I loved his rejection of overused words and his attempts to reinvent them to link them to the complex stuff of being. I find myself on a similar path with some English words. The thing about Heidegger's philosophy is his strong message that we as humans are inextricably connected to our context. I wasn't present during those years in Germany, i suspect terrible decisions and choices needed to be made. He was definitely in a shocker of a context. It's a conflict that i don't know how to navigate I'm afraid.

Expand full comment