Art Matters: A Critical Commentary on Heidegger’s “The Origin of the Work of Art”

205 Pages·2009·3.998 MB·English

by  K. Harries (auth.)

ARTMATTERS
CONTRIBUTIONSTOPHENOMENOLOGY
INCOOPERATIONWITH
THECENTERFORADVANCEDRESEARCHINPHENOMENOLOGY
Volume57
SeriesEditors:
NicolasdeWarren,WellesleyCollege,MA,USA
DermotMoran,UniversityCollegeDublin,Ireland.
EditorialBoard:
LilianAlweiss,TrinityCollegeDublin,Ireland
ElizabethBehnke,Ferndale,WA,USA
RudolfBernet,Husserl-Archief,KatholiekeUniversiteitLeuven,Belgium
DavidCarr,EmoryUniversity,GA,USA
Chan-FaiCheung,ChineseUniversityHongKong,China
JamesDodd,NewSchoolUniversity,NY,USA
LesterEmbree,FloridaAtlanticUniversity,FL,USA
AlfredoFerrarin,Universita`diPisa,Italy
BurtHopkins,SeattleUniversity,WA,USA
Jose´Huertas-Jourda,WilfridLaurierUniversity,Canada
Kwok-YingLau,ChineseUniversityHongKong,China
Nam-InLee,SeoulNationalUniversity,Korea
DieterLohmar,Universita¨tzuKo¨ln,Germany
WilliamR.McKenna,MiamiUniversity,OH,USA
AlgisMickunas,OhioUniversity,OH,USA
J.N.Mohanty,TempleUniversity,PA,USA
JunichiMurata,UniversityofTokyo,Japan
ThomasNenon,TheUniversityofMemphis,TN,USA
ThomasM.Seebohm,JohannesGutenberg-Universita¨t,Germany
GailSoffer,Rome,Italy
AnthonySteinbock,SouthernIllinoisUniversityatCarbondale,IL,USA
ShigeruTaguchi,YamagataUniversity,Japan
DanZahavi,UniversityofCopenhagen,Denmark
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ART MATTERS
A Critical Commentary on Heidegger’s
“The Origin of the Work of Art”
by
KARSTEN HARRIES
KarstenHarries
YaleUniversity
DepartmentofPhilosophy
P.O.Box208306
NewHaven,CT06520-8306
USA
[email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4020-9988-5 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-9989-2
DOI10.1007/978-1-4020-9989-2
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2009921995
(cid:2)c SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2009
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Preface
After Being and Time, “The Origin of the Work of Art” may well be
Heidegger’s most widely read and referred to work. It not only marks the
midpoint and center of his path of thinking; but, developing earlier themes
andanticipatingmuchofwhatwasstilltocome,moreperspicuouslythanany
otherofhisworks,itpresentsusinanutshellwiththewholeHeidegger.Itis
myhopethatthiscriticalcommentarywilldemonstratethatwehavenobetter
introductiontohisthought.
Certainly,nootherworkbyHeideggerhashadasprofoundandenduring
animpactonmyownphilosophicaldevelopment.Ifirstdiscoveredtheessayin
1958,myfirstyearingraduateschool,whenHeideggerwasjustbeginningto
arousebroadinterestinthiscountry’sphilosophicalcommunity.TheMeaning
ofModernArt(1968)hintsathowtheessayhelpedshapemythinkingabout
the present situation of art. “Das befreite Nichts” (1970), my contribution
to Durchblicke, the Festschrift for Heidegger’s 80th birthday, attempted to
developsomeoftheseideaswithmoreexplicitreferenceto“TheOriginofthe
WorkofArt.”Howimportanttheessayhasbeentomyworkinthephilosophy
ofarchitectureisshownbyTheEthicalFunctionofArchitecture(2001).Butit
was not questions concerning art and architecture that have mattered most to
me;ofgreaterimporthasbeentheproblemofnihilismthatIhadtackledinmy
dissertation(1961).
Givenmyunderstandingoftheessay’simportance,itishardlysurprising
that over the years I should have repeatedly dedicated seminars to this text,
so in the spring of 1994, the fall of 1999, the fall of 2001, and, now for the
last time, the spring of 2008. What follows are my notes for these seminars,
revisedtominimizerepetitionsandamendedinanumberofplacestotakeinto
accountsomeoftherelevantliterature.
My greatest debt is to the students in these seminars. Their questions
and contributions were indispensable. I also owe a special debt to George
A.Schrader,whofirstencouragedmetoreadthisessayandwhowastodirect
mydissertationonnihilism,toHans-GeorgGadamer,withwhomIhadmany
fruitful discussions and who was responsible for the invitation to contribute
totheHeideggerFestschrift,toOttoPo¨ggeler,whosoclearlyunderstoodthe
importanceoftheessaytomywork,includingeventomybookontheBavarian
Rococo Church, to Eduard Fu¨hr, who helped me become clearer about what
Heidegger still has to contribute to our understanding of the present state of
architecture, and to Dermot Moran, friend and fellow phenomenologist, who
encouragedmetogatherthesenotesforthepresentpublication.
July15,2008 K.Harries
Hamden,Connecticut
v
Contents
1. Introduction:TheEndofArt? 1
1. QuestioningAesthetics...................................... 1
2. HeideggerContraHegel..................................... 3
3. TheAestheticApproach..................................... 6
4. ArtandTruth............................................. 7
5. TheAdventofTruth........................................ 13
2. InSearchofaHero 17
1. AuthenticityandArt........................................ 17
2. AuthenticityandSilence.................................... 18
3. GuiltandConscience....................................... 21
4. ResolutenessandResponsibility.............................. 23
5. LookingforaHero......................................... 26
3. LeadersandFollowers 31
1. ChoosingaHero........................................... 31
2. TheRectorate............................................. 33
3. A“PrivateNationalSocialism”............................... 37
4. TheGreekOriginofScience................................. 39
5. HolyEarth................................................ 43
6. Polemos ................................................. 44
7. “AllthatisGreatStandsintheStorm”......................... 48
8. ALetter.................................................. 50
4. Origins 53
1. Roots.................................................... 53
2. DisintegrationandRenewal.................................. 54
3. MetaphysicsandtheLossofMeaning......................... 56
4. TheNeedforArt.......................................... 59
5. TheOriginofMetaphysics .................................. 60
6. ArtasOrigin.............................................. 63
5. ArtWorkandThing 69
1. TheWorkofArtasaThing.................................. 69
2. WhatisaThing?........................................... 72
3. FirstInadequateAnswer:TheThingasBearerofProperties........ 74
4. SecondInadequateAnswer:TheThingasObjectofPerception..... 77
5. ThirdInadequateAnswer:TheThingasFormedMatter........... 78
6. LookingtoaWorkofArtforanAnswer....................... 79
vii
viii CONTENTS
6. APairofShoes 83
1. PeasantShoes............................................. 83
2. AWillfulInterpretation?.................................... 84
3. SeeingaWorldinaPairofShoes............................. 86
4. TheBeingofEquipment.................................... 87
5. A“HappeningofTruth”?.................................... 89
6. BeautyandTruth.......................................... 91
7. WorkandWorld 95
1. TheCounterplayofWorldandEarth........................... 95
2. TheSelf-SubsistenceoftheWorkofArt........................ 96
3. AGreekTemple........................................... 100
4. WhatTemple?............................................. 103
5. HouseofGodandGateofHeaven............................ 106
8. WorldandEarth 109
1. OntheWaytotheEreignis.................................. 109
2. Heidegger’s“World”....................................... 112
3. Heidegger’s“Earth”........................................ 115
4. TheStrifeofEarthandWorld................................ 118
5. ThePlaceofArtina“NeedyAge”............................ 120
9. TheEssenceofTruth 125
1. ArtandTruth............................................. 125
2. TheMeaningof“Truth”..................................... 126
3. TruthasUnconcealedness................................... 130
4. “TheNatureofTruthisUntruth”.............................. 133
5. ArtasOneWayinwhichTruthHappens....................... 136
10. TruthandArt 139
1. ArtandTechne............................................ 139
2. CraftsmanandArtist....................................... 142
3. TheHappeningofTruthinArt............................... 143
4. TheHappeningofTruthintheFoundingofaState............... 146
5. TheHappeningofTruthinFaith.............................. 149
6. TheHappeningofTruthinSacrifice........................... 150
7. TheHappeningofTruthinThought........................... 151
11. CreatorsandPreservers 155
1. TheRiftofWorldandEarth ................................. 155
2. TheWorkofArtasSomethingCreated ........................ 159
3. CreatorsandPreservers..................................... 160
4. BindingFreedom.......................................... 163
5. ArtasOriginofCreatorsandPreservers........................ 164
CONTENTS ix
12. ArtIsPoetry 169
1. Poetry:TheEssenceofArt.................................. 169
2. PoetryandPoesy.......................................... 171
3. TheCreativityofPreserving................................. 174
4. ArtastheOriginofTruth.................................... 179
13. Conclusion:EpilogueandAddendum 183
1. TheRiddleoftheBeautiful.................................. 183
2. ArtandBoredom.......................................... 185
3. HegelorHo¨lderlin?........................................ 187
4. TruthandBeauty.......................................... 188
5. ThreeFinalThoughts....................................... 190
6. Coda:AChineseTale....................................... 194
Index 199
Abbreviations
All references in the text are to the volumes of the Martin Heidegger,
Gesamtaugabe,publishedbyVittorioKlostermann,FrankfurtamMain,listed
below.WhenIuseatranslation,thepagereferencefollowsthattotheGerman
original,separatedbya/.
G2. SeinundZeit(1927)
Being and Time, trans. John Macquarrie and Edward
Robinson(NewYork:HarperandRow,1962
G4. Erla¨uterungenzuHo¨lderlinsDichtung(1936–1968)
G5. Holzwege(1935–1946)
“The Origin of the Work of Art,” trans. Albert Hofstadter,
Poetry, Langusge, Thought. New York: Harper and Row,
1971
G6.1. Nietzsche1.(1936–1939)
G7. Vortra¨geundAufsa¨tze(1936–1953)
“Building, Dwelling, Thinking,” trans. Albert Hofstadter,
Poetry, Language, Thought. New York: Harper and Row,
1971
G9. Wegmarken(1919–1958)
“What is Metaphysics?” trans. David Farrell Krell, Basic
Writings.NewYork:HarperandRow,1977,95–112
G13. AusderErfahrungdesDenkens(1910–1976)
G14. ZurSachedesDenkens(1962–1964)
“The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking,” trans.
Joan Stambaugh, Basic Writings, ed. David Farrell Krell.
NewYork:HarperandRow,1977,373–392
G16. Reden und andere Zeugnisse eines Lebensweges
(1910–1976)
“The Self Assertion of the German University,” “The
Rectorate 1933/34: Facts and Thoughts,” “Der Spiegel
Interview with Martin Heidegger,” Martin Heideger and
National Socialism. Questions and Answers, ed. Gu¨nther
Neske and Emil Kettering, trans. Lisa Harries. New York:
Paragon,1990
G17. Einfu¨hrung in die pha¨nomenologische Forschung (WS
1923–1924)
G19. Platon:Sophistes(WS1924–1925)
G26. Metaphysische Anfangsgru¨nde der Logik im Ausgang von
Leibniz(SS1928)
xi