Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning)

210 Pages·1999·58.152 MB·English

by  Martin Heidegger, Parvis Emad, Kenneth Maly

Martin Heidegger
Studies in Continental Thought
Contributions to Philosophy
GENERAL EDITOR
JOHN SALLIS (From Enowning)
CONSULTING EDITORS
Robert Bemasconi William L. McBride
Rudolf Bemet J. N. Mohanty
John D. Caputo Mary Rawlinson
David Can Tom Rockmore
Edward S. Casey Calvin 0.S chrag Translated by
Hubert L. Dreyfus tReiner Schurmann
Don Ihde Charles E. Scott Parvis Emad and Kenneth Maly
David Farrell Krell Thomas Sheehan
Lenore Langsdorf Robert Sokolowski
Alphonso Lingis Bruce W. Wilshire
David Wood
Indiana University Press
Bloomington & Indianapolis
Contents
Publication of this work was supported by funding from Inter Translators' Foreword xv
Naliones, Bonn. Acknowledgments xliv
I. Preview
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Published in German as Beitriigem r Phflosophie( Vcm Bm'.qnis)e dited by Friedrkh- 5. For the Few and the Rare 9
Wilhelm von Herrmann Cl 1989 by Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfun am Main 6. The Grounding-Attunement 15
English translation C 1999 by Indiana University Press 7. From Enowning 17
All rights reserved
8. From Enowning 20
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical. including photocopying and recording, or by any 9, A Glance 21
information storage and retrieval system. without permission in writing from 10. From Enowning 22:
the publisher. The Assodation of American University Presses' Resolution on - -
I I. Enowning Dasein Man 22:
Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
I 2. Enowning and History 23
The paper used In this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed 13. Reservedness 24
Library Materials, ANSI 239.48-1984. 14. Philosophy and Worldview 26
Manufactured in the United States of America 15. Philosophy as "Philosophy of a People" 29
16. Philosophy 31
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publlrratfon Data
17. The Necessity of Philosophy 32
Heidegger, Martin, 1889- 1976.
18. The Powerlessness of Thinking 33
fBeitriige zur Philosophie. English]
Contributions to philosophy : from enowning I Martin Heidegger : I 9. Philosophy (On the Question: Who Are We?) 34
translated by Parvis Emad and Kenneth Maly. 20. The Beginning and Inceptual Thinking 38,
p. cm. - (Studies in Continental thought)
Includes bibliographical references. 2 I. Inceptual Thinking (Projecting-Open) 39,
ISBN 0-253-33606-6 (cloth : alk. paper) 22. Inceptual Thinking 40
1. Philosophy. I. Title. rr. Series. 23. rnceptual Thinking: Why Thinking from within the Beginning? 40
B3279.H48B445 l 3 1999
193-dc21 99. 34597 24. The Wayward Claim on Inceptual Thinking 42
25. Historicity and Being 43
l 2 3 4 5 04 03 02 01 00 99
26. Philosophy as Knowing Awareness 43
27. Inceptual Thinking (Concept) 44
28. The Immeasurability of Inceptual Thinking as Finite Thinking 45
29. lnceptual Thinking (The Question of What Is Ownmost) 46
30. lnceptual Thinking (As Mindfulness) 46
'/
(
nn? ? L1.LR1. I ( tf 2
vi Contents Contents vii
3 1. The Style of Inceptual Thinking 48 65. What Is Not Ownmost to Be-ing 91
32. Enowning. A Decisive Glance after the Enactment of Echo and 66. Machination and Lived-Experience 91
Pia ying-Fort h 48
67. Machination and Lived-Experience 92
33. The Question of Be-ing 50
68, Machination and Lived-Experience 93
34. Enowning and the Question of Being 51
69. Lived-Experience and "Anthropology" 93
35. Enowning 54
70. The Gigantic 94
36. En thinking Be-ing and Language 54 7 1. The Gigantic 96
37. Be-ing and Reticence in Silence (The Sigetic) 54
72. Nihilism 96
38. Reticence in Silence 55
73. Abandonment of Being and *Science· 98
39. Enowning 56
74. "Total Mobilization" as Consequence of Qriginary Abandonment
40. The Work of Thinking in the Epoch of the Crossing 57 of Being 100
41. Every Saying of Be-ing Is Kept in Words and Namings 58 75. On Being Mindful of Science 100
42. From 'Being and Time" to "Enowning" 58 36. Proposlcions about 'Science" 100
43. Be-ing and Decision 60 77. Experiri- Experientia - Experimentum- *Experiment· -eµneip(a
44. The *Decisions· 62 Experience- Probe 110
45. The 'Decision" 66 78. Experiri (t1171Etpfa}-"Experiencing· 11 l
46. Decision (Fore-Grasping) 69 79. Exact Science and Experiment 114
47. What Is Ownmost to Decision: Being and Not-Being 70 80. Experiri- Experientia-Experimmtum- "Experiment" 114
48. ln What Sense Decision Belongs to Be-ing Itself 71 m. Playing-Forth
49. Why Must Decisions Be Made? 71
8 1. Playing-Forth 119
II. Echo 82. Playing-Forth 119
50. Echo 75 83. The View of All Metaphysics on Being 120
51. Echo 75 84. A Being 120
52. Abandonment of Being 77 85. The Originary Coming-into-Its-Own of the First Beginning Means
Gaining a Foothold in the Other Beginning 120
53. Distress 79
86. What the History of Metaphysics Keeps Ready and Thus "Plays
54. Abandonment of Being 79 Forth" as Still Unyielded and Uruecogniui ble by This History 122
55. Echo 80 87. History of the First Beginning (History of Metaphysics) 123
56. The Lingering of the Abandonment of Being in the Concealed
88. The 'Historical" Lectures Belong to the Sphere of This Task 123
Manner of Forgottenness of Being 81
89. Crossing to the Other Beginning 124
57. History of Be-ing and Abandonment of Being 83
90. From the Fist to the Other Beginning: Negation 125
58. What the Three Concealments of the Abandonment of Being Are
and How They Show Themselves 84 9 1. From the First to the Other Beginning 125
59. The Epoch of Total Lack of Questioning and Enchantment 86 92. Setting into Perspective the First and the Other Beginning 130
60. Whence the Lack of Distress as Utmost Distress? 87 93. The Great Philosophies 131
61, Machination 88 94. Setting Apan the Other Beginning 131
62. Self-Dissembling of the Abandonment of Being by Machination 95, The First Beginning 132
and "Lived-Experience" 90 96. The Inceptual Interpretation of Being as 133
63. Live-Experience 90 97. 4>ticn(c't;t xvri) 133
64. Machination 90 98. Projecting Beingness Open unto Constant Presence 134
viii Contents Contents ix
99. "Being" and "Becoming" in Tnceptual Thin \,ing 135 132. Be-ing and a Being 176
100. The First Beginning 136 133. The Essential Sway of Be-ing 177
10 I. Prom Early on Mus.t, Clearly, and in a Secure Light. . . 138 \34. The Relation of Da-sein and Be-ing 178
102. Thinking: The Guiding-Thread of the Guiding-Question of 35. The Essential Swaying of Be-ing as Enowning (The Relation of
Western Philosophy 138 Da-seill and Be-ing) 179
103. On the Notion of German Idealism 141 136. Be-ing 180
104. German Idealism 142 137. Be-ing 182
105, Holderlin- Kierkegaard- Nietzsche 142 138. Truth of Be-ing and Understanding of Being 182
106. The Decision about AII Ontology in Enactment: Contention 139. The Essential Swaying of Be-ing: Truth and 1ime-Space 183
between the First and the Other Beginning 143 140. The Essential Swaying of Be-i!\g 184
107. Responding to the Guiding-Questiona nd the Form of Traditional 141. The Essential Sway of Be-ing 184
Metaphysics 144
142. The Essential Sway of Be-ing 185
108. The Basic Metaphysical Positions within the History of the
Guiding-Question and the Interpretation of Time-Space That 143. Be-ing 185
Belongs to Each of Them 145 144. Be-ing and the Originary Strife (Be-ing or Not-Be-ing in the
109. iota 145 Essential Sway of Be-ing Itself) 186
110. iota, Platonism, and Idealism 145 145. Be-ing and Nothing 187
11 l. The "A priori" and ~c; 155 146. Be-ing and Not-Be-ing 188
112. The ..A priori" 155 147. The Essential Swaying of Be-ing (Tts Finitude) 189
113. iofo and ouc:rla 156 148. A Being Is 189
114. On Nietzsche's Basic Metaphysical Position 156 149. Beingness of Beings Differentiated According to nfonv and
6-n fottv 190
IV. Leap 150. The Origin of Differentiation of the What and the That of a
I15 . The Guiding-Attunement of the Leap 161 Being 191
16. Being-History 161 151 . Being and a Being 192
117. Leap 162 152. The Stages of Be-ing 192
118. Leap 163 153. Life 194
119. The Leap into Preparation by Asking the Grounding-Question 164 I 54. *Life" 195
120. Leap 166 1 55. Nature and Eanh 195
12 1. Be-ing and Beings 168 I 156. Cleavage )96
122. Leap (The Thrown Projecting-Open) 169 157. Cleavage and 'Modalities" 196
123. Be-ing 169 158. Cleavage and 'Modalities" 197
124. Leap 170 15 9. Cleavage 198
125. Be-ing and Time 171 160. Being-toward-Death and Being 198
126. Be-ing and a Being and Gods 172 161. Being-toward-Death 199
127. Cleavage 172 162, Be-ing-toward-Death 200
128. Be-ing and Man 173 163, Being-toward-Death and Being 200
129. The Nothing 173 164. The Essential Swaying of Be-ing 201
130. The 'Essential Sway" of Be-ing 174 l65. Essential Sway as Essential Swaying 202
131. The Overflow in the Essential Sway of Be-in~ (Self-Sheltering) 176 166. EssentiaI Swaying and Essential Sway 202
.
. -
. 0 · , -. , -· - ·- ·-~ ,
" ~ Lomen ts Contents (.1.., t iJ'. h- ~-. xi
':;'.: .. ~ 167. Advancing into Essential Swaying . .4 1 203 I ~ ·, ,201. Da-sein and Being-Away , •2 27
-."~,,.. , . .,..'.. .-.1.~, Q:- ' 168. Da-sein and Beai)n Dg a-sein anV.d GPrrooujencdtiinngg Be(i"n' ge ,,O pte n\ .£l u~-'\" .•J '' 207 ; . L, I22 0032.. PDrao-sjeecinti n(gB-eOinpge-nA awnca)dy T) D hae- Esesisne ntial Sway of Truth 222278 ~!
169. Da-sein ..s
- 207 204. The Essential Sway of Truth 229
170. Da-sein
-!; 207 I 205. The Open 230
171. Da-sein
'" i 208 206. From aA.'11~£t1o.a D a-sein 230 ~
'.', .. 117723.. DDaa--rseeiinn and the Question of Being 220088 , -" .~. a- .." "22 0078.. TFr.ruothm w.11~ £1a to Da-sein 223321 ~... t
-I 174. Da-sein and Inabiding
..... 210 .. 209. <XA.ll~l(l-Openness and Clearing of Self -Sheltering-Concealing 232 _r-, ._::~ . ..
..... , 175. Da-sein and Beings in the- W··•h•'-o"•l"e"' ~ 211 . I.I' 2 10. On the History of the Essential Sway of Truth 2)) ·;>, "
r-;;. 117776.. BDea-insegin-A: wEaluyc idating the Word 211 . 21 1. Ewm.1a'~ntaat:i onT haen dC rTisoista ol fC Iotsll aHpisseto ry in Plato and Aristotle, the Last 1J \~
212 ...
178. "Da-sein Exists for the Sake of Itself" 213 ~ 2 12. Truth as Certainty 223354
.' .'. ... 179. 'Existence" (Being and Time [GA 2, pp. 56-57]) 213 2 13. What the Question of Truth Is About 237
...
180. Be-ing and Understanding of Being 213 214. The Essential Sway of Truth (Openness) 237
..-.v -J 181. Leap 214 .E ,.,_ -. 21 5. The Essential Swaying of Truth 239 ~
182. Projecting Be-ing Open: Projecting-Open as Thrown 214 . 216. Approaching the Quenion of Truth 239
,"J
183. Projecting-Open unto Be-ing 214 .. 217. The Essential Sway of Truth 239
~
184. The Question of Being as Question Concerning the Truth of Be-inn g 215 218. The Announcement of the Essential Swaying of Truth 240
~
18 5. What Is Called Da-sein? 215 ~ ~~ · .. 219. The Jointure of the Question of Truth 241
186. Da-sein 215 \.'-. r ') 220. The Question of Truth 241
~ - \u "·\ -,. , . ::, 22 1. Truth as Essential Swaying of Be-ing 242
b) Da-sein "
187. Grounding V 216 • 222. Truth 242 4
118898.. DGar-osuenind ing ~ --rkc r ,·c--' . ' /J~ (Ff . ., 222434,. TWhhea Et slsse Ontwianl mSwosatg t oof TTruruthth ( Whar Is Not Its Ownmost) 224433
190. On Da -sein C V cf ) rt 218 . 225. The Essential Sway of Truth 244 ~ _s;,
191. Da-sein ~~. 219 226, Clearing of Sheltering-Concealing and aA.11~El(l. 245 c;.
192. Da-sein 219 227. On the Essential Sway of Truth 247 <:.'...
193, Da-sein and Man (, . -- 220 , 228. The Essential sway of Truth Is Un-Truth 249
119954.. DMaa-nse ainn da nDda -Mseainn ct 222 - ' 223290,. TTrruutthh aanndd CDoa-rsreeicntn ess 225409
223
196. Da-sein and the People 231. How Truth, <XA~lll( l, Becomes Correctness 250
224
197. Da-sein-Ownhood-Selfuood 224 _ . 232, The Question of Truth as Historically Mindful Deliberation 251
1.98. Grounding of Da-sein as En-grounding worl"r /. 226 233. Eanndjo in9i3n3g1 t3h4e) Iton ttehrep rQetuaetisotino nof oft hTer uStihm ile of the Cave (193 l/.32 251
199. Transcendence and Da-sein and Be-ing
226 :::, 234. The Question Concerning Truth (Nietzsche) 253
200. Da-sein .>
227 i 235. Truth and Genuineness 256
~ .
/- Cv,t luJ
)~ , "' rM
.J
c,ce::tR_ ,+1,J' ,;e ---;:. ..s-:' \ " ~ .J. r, ~.I • .... ~ f1
L
xii Contents Contents xiii
236. Truth 257 .266. Be-ing and "Ontological Difference"
237. Faith and Truth J.r\ss 25~. "Differentiation" 327
267. Be-Ing (Enowning) 330
d) Time-Space as Ab-griJund
.268. Be-ing (Differentiation) 336
238. The-Space 259
269. Be-ing 338
239. Time-Space (Preparatory Consideration) 259
270. The Essential Sway of Be-ing (The Essential Swaying) 341
240. Time and Space: Their "Actuality" and 'Source" 262
271. Da-sein 343
241. Space and Time-Time-Space 263
272. Man 345
242. Time-Space as Ab-ground 264
273. History 346
e) The Essential Swaying of Truth as Sheltering 274. A Being and Calculation 348
243. Sheltering 271 275. A Being 349
244. Truth and Sheltering 273 276. Be-ing and Language 350
245. Truth and Sheltering 273 277. "Metaphysics" and the Origin of the Work of Art 354
246. Sheltering of Truth in What Is True 273 278. Origin of the Work of Art 356
247. Grounding Da-sein and Trajectories of Sheltering Truth 274 279. What about Gods? 357
280. The Question of Crossing 358
'VI. The Ones to Come
248. The Ones to Came 277 281. Language (Its Origin) 358
249. The Grounding-Attunement of the Ones to Come 277 Editor's EpHogue 363
250. The Ones to Come 278
25 1. What Is Ownrnost to a People and to Da•sein 279
252. Da-sein and the Ones to Come Who Belong to the Last God 280
Vll. The Last God
253. The Last 285
254. Refusal 285
255. Turning in Enowning 286
256. The Last God 288
vm. Be-ing
257. Be-ing 297
258. Philosophy 297
259. Philosophy 299
260. The Gigantic 310
261. The Opinion about Be-ing 312
262. "Projecting-Open" Be-lng and Be-ing as Projecting-Open 314
263. Every Projecting-Open ls a Thrown One 318
264. Projecting Be-ing Open and Understanding of Being 320
265. En-thinking of Be-ing 321
Translators' Foreword
Witb this publication of Contributionsto Philosophy( FromE nawning).M artin
Heidegger's second major work, Britriigez ur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis,)
becomes available for the first time in English. KnoMl in philosophical cir
des as Beitriiget, his work had been awaited with great expectation long
before its publication on the centennial of Heidegger's birth in 1989.
Beitriigzeu r Philosophi(eV omE rtignis)o pens the third division of Heidegger's
Gesamtausgabwe,h ich is devoted to the publication of book-length manu-
scripts and treatises.
Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning) was written almost a
decade after Being and Time. Like Being and Time, it is a treatise that was
not originally presented as a university lecture course. But unlike Being
and Time, It is the first treatise whose maturation and unfolding are not
reflected in any of the lecture courses of the years 19 19 to 1937. Even
the university lecture text Basic Questions of Philosophy: Selected "Frob-
!mis " of "Logic," though it was written at the same time as Contributions,
involves some of the same language, and also deals with the question of
truth, still does not reveal anything of the maturation and unfolding of
Contributions.T hus, as far as the interrelation of Heidegger's treatises
and university lecture texts is concerned, Contributions to Philascphy
(From Enawning) stands alone. Perhaps the "prolonged hesitation" spo-
ken of in the epigram to Contributions reflects the inaccessibility to any
form of publicness-and not only the publicness of the university lec-
ture course setting. That is, perhaps the thinking that goes on in this
work could not find a proper hearing anywhere-until now.
The singular importance of Contributions to Philosophy (From Em:nvn-
ing) consists in its being Heidegger's first fundamental work in which
so-called *being-historical thinking" is enacted. In six "joinings" -not
to be mistaken for "chapters"- called "Echo," "Playing-Forth," "Leap,"
"Grounding,"' The Ones to Come," and ~The Last God," Heidegger enacts
"being-historical thinking" as a thinking that is enowned by being in its
historical unfolding. Whether we consider the echo of being, the way in
which the first Greek beginning of thinking plays forth into the other
beginning, the manner in which thinking leaps into the essential sway-
ing of being, or how this thinking is engaged in the grounding of this
swaying as the ones to come who receive the hints of the last god-in
any case we witness the gradual, systematic, cohesive, and closely
interrelated unfolding of a thinking that presents Contn'butions as a
xvi Translators' Foreword Translators' Foreword xvii
work which -as no other work of Heidegger's- shows the active char- remaining always fully aware of the source from which this translation
acter of "being-historica1 thinking." If we fail to consider this active receives guidance and directive.
character and if we do not question the traditional pattern that struc- Jn our attempt to Iet the singularity of ContributioHb.Se reflected in its
tures a philosophical work (a presupposed thesis, its development and English translation, we tried to keep in mind that "being-historical
demonstration), we may be misled into assuming that Contributions to thinking" is not a thinking about being. For being is not an object and
Philosophy {From Enowning) is a collection of "aphorisms" or that it pre- cannot be treated as a delimitable and objectifiable topic. For us as
sents Heidegger's "working notes." Both assumptions are wrong. translators this meant that we could not use an objectifying approach to
The appearance in the text of Contributions of a number of sentences the language and word-structure of this work. Throughout Contribu-
that, seen from the outside, look like "notes" should not mislead us into tions to Philosophy (From Enowning)-in the course of a "preview," six
believing that Heidegger is making certain notes to himself. The sen- "joinings," and a concluding section entitled "Be-ing"- Heidegger takes
tences in Contributions that look like "notes" are virtually all formal indi- a new approach to the question of being by enacting a thinking that is
cators of the paths to be taken or paths that have already been taken in ·enovvned by being." The singularity of this work comes through in
the course of "being-historical thinking." When, for example, close to translation when translation mirrors 'being-historical thinking" as a
the end of Contributions, and after a focused discussion and analysis of thinking that is by being." It has been one of our goals to let
the work of art, Heidegger lays out a series of questions and issues and this happen throughout the translation.
addresses the views of the Berlin architect K.F. Schinkel-questions It is the enactment of this thinking that molds the unusual syntax of
and issues that at first glance look like "notesm-he shows in a for- ContributionsT. ranslating this work into English, we faced the necessity
mal-indicative manner that each and every word used by Schinkel is of corning to terms with this syntax, since we realized that it is only by
open to a "being-historical" interpretation. understanding and interpreting this syntax that the singularity of this
Moreover, Heidegger's own understanding of and relation to Contri- work can come through in translation. We were thus called upon to
butions is such as to leave no doubt that he did not consider this work characterize and appraise this syntax.
to be a collection of "aphorisms" or "notes." Indicating that "be-ing A careful reading of the Contributions shows that its unusual syntax is
and only be-ing is and that a being is nor". 1 Heidegger makes cleat that neither extraneous to the work nor an insurmountable obstacle. Thus
statements made on behalf of "being-historical thinking" are not to be the unusual syntax cannot be set aside as having no impact on transla-
confused with assertion as "a subsequent expression in the language tion. The unusual character of this syntax shows itself in two ways: in the
of a re-presentation:" 2 Rather, these statements emerge from and incompleteness of some sentences and in an occasional ambiguity with
return to what shows and manifests itself, i.e., o.x6q>cxv<c;:o nf be-ing. respect to German grammar. We found that both must be accounted for
Thus, Heidegger's own understanding of this work comes from the in our translation. We came to terms with the unusual syntax of the
non-representational apophantic origin of 'being- historical thinking." work by making minor additions to the text (they appear within square
A characterization of Contributions as a collection of "aphorisms" or as brackets [] ). These additions are meant to enhance the readability of the
"working notes" is only possible when we ignore what defines this text. What we have added to the text within square brackets is in each
work and structures it, namely be-ing's self-showing and manifesting. case either an interpretation of a certain punctuation mark or derived
Heidegger's concern with the cohesive character of Ccmtributionsis from the immediate context. This device leaves the reader free either to
clearly manifest in the close attention that he paid to the process of the use or to ignore the additions. The reader who opts for the latter needs
typing of the manuscript, in his checking the typed copy against the only to overlook what stands between the square brackets.
handwritten original, and, equally importantly , in the meticulous We decided to implement this device in spite of the fact that Heideg-
cross-references throughout the Contributions.' When carefully fol- ger opted for leaving the syntax of the Contributionsi ntact. Indeed, the
lowed through, these cross-references show the path that thinking has enactment of a new approach to the question of being, which is what
traversed or is about to traverse. Cross-references are given in order to Contributionsi s all about, does not depend on a detailed unfolding of its
facilitate the engagement of thinking in what is formally indicated: syntax. In a note written at the same time as Contributions.H eidegger
They are not there for demonstrating what a preceding stage of discus- points out:
sion has already established.
As translators of this work, we had to face the necessity of reflecting In its new approach this Contributicmst o Philosophy should render manifest the
its singularity. We also had to he constantly aware of its unusual syntax, range of the question of being. A detailed unfolding here is not. necessary,
xviii Translators' Foreword Translators' Foreword xix
because this all too easiJy narrows down the actuaJ horizon and misses the (awrs' Foreword. (The reader who reads this work for the first time will
thrust of questioning.• do well to return to this Foreword in order to bear in mind the reasons
that support our renditions of the key words of Contributions.)
He was clearly aware of both the incompleteness and the grammatical 1n preparing this translation and in consulting with scholars in the
ambiguity of some passages as they determine the present shape of the field, we-as they-have discovered that this text, even in the original,
Contributions.A nd yet he saw an improvement on this score as unnec is not readily accessible to its readers. This is true even for those readers
essary and perhaps not useful because, in his own mind, a more who are well read in Heidegger. If this is the case for those reading the
detailed unfolding of the syntax of this work would distract thinking Contributions in its original German, it is all the more true for anyone
from the thrust of questioning. who wants to appropriate the text in English. Given the groundbreak
Seen in this light, our few parenthetical remarks are meant to ing character of Contributions,r eading this work demands an excep
enhance readability as well as to acknowledge that here and there the tional scrutiny and precision. Individual words and punctuation marks
English needs (can make use of) additions that are less necessary or often carry an even greater weight than normal-even in "normal"
useful in the German. Sometimes the context relieves and releases the Heidegger. Often words and punctuation marks must be read within
text in German in ways that do not occur in English. Given these delib the context that is both prospective and retrospective. A case in point is
erations, it should be pointed out that our parenthetical additions do the rendition of Seinsentwurfa s projectingb eingo pen, where the danger of
not pretend to be equal to Heidegger's own Ndetailed unfolding" -had imputing this "projecting" to a "subject" is avoided by reading "project
it occurred-fi rst, because we do not know how he would have actu ing-open as thrown" within "projecting being open."
ally carried out such an unfolding, and second, because our additions to Thus we advise readers of this English text that it requires some get
the text are only indications showing how we as translators understood ting used to, just as does the German text itself. This is a groundbreak
and interpreted the text. Thus our parenthetical additions are intended ing work of thin.king, one that opens pathways to the thinking of being
only to enhance the readability of the translation and to present the full that (a) have never been opened before and (b) require a profoundly
scope of our interpretation-an interpretation that is inherent in any renewed way of listening to and active engagement with the text. This
translation. is true regardless of one's philosophical persuasion and regardless of
What is the source from which we drew guidance and directive for which current "movement" in philosophy one adheres to.
carrying out this translation? To respond to this question, we must In what follows we shall do three things. First, we shall discuss fam
characterize the act of translating the text of the Contributionsa s an act ilies of words that gather around one central German word-families
of disclosing the orienting power of "being-historical words" as this that are recognizable in their phenomenological kinship. Second, we
power shapes the cohesive, systematic, and closely interrelated Njoin shall address the special case of the large number of words in Contribu
ings" of be-ing as enowning. However, this is a power that undermines tions that carry the prefix er-. Third, we shall clarify certain technical
mere lexicography-the one-to-one correspondence of the German aspects of the translation.
words to their English counterparts. The cohesive, systematic, and
closely interrelated "joinings" of Heidegger's "being-historical think I. The Group of Words That Gather
ing" -which comes "alive" only in enactment -pr esents the translation Around One Single Word
process with the possibility of rethinking, revising, and eventually com
bining English words in a new way. 5 1. Ereignisa nd Related Words
Thus the source from which this translation received directive and We considered the possibility of leaving the word Ereignisu ntranslated,
guidance was not primarily the lexicographical settlement of the rela since we were aware of Heidegger's own view, corroborated by our
tion between Heidegger's German and the English words. It was rather understanding of Contributions, that Ereignis is "as little translatable as
the cohesive, systematic, and closely interrelated "joinings" of "being the guiding-Greek word Mroc; and the Chinese Tao .. . and is ... a sin
historical thinking" that guided this translation toward disclosing the gulare tan tum. "6 And yet we opted for translating Ereignis rather than
orienting power inherent in the key words of Contributions.W e see leaving it untran slated, for three reasons: ( l) Leaving the word Ereignis
dearly how such a disclosing occurs when we discuss our specific untranslated in the text requires an explanation, which involves an
choices for rendering into English the key philosophical words and interpretatio n of this word, which in turn constitutes translating it. That
phrases of the Contributoins. This discussion forms the core of the Trans- is, leaving Ereignis# untranslated" is itself a translation. Thus translating