Heidegger's Style: On Philosophical Anthropology and Aesthetics

289 Pages·2018·2.426 MB·English

by  Markus Weidler

Heidegger’s Style
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Heidegger’s Style
On Philosophical Anthropology and Aesthetics
Markus Weidler
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First published in Great Britain 2018
Copyright © Markus Weidler, 2018
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To my parents, Armin and Karin Weidler, and to
the memory of my uncle, Dieter Vollrath

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Abbreviations x
Introduction: The Decisive Decade from 1936 to 1946 1
Part One Back to the 1780s
1 Philosophical Anthropology: Herder’s Pantheism as a Subtext for
Heidegger’s First Schelling Lecture 19
2 Revelation: Heidegger’s Second Schelling Lecture vis-à-vis Scheler
and Simmel 43
3 “The Origin of the Work of Art”: A Critique of Schiller Incognito
and the Beginning of Artisan Thinking 70
Part Two Battleground Nietzsche
4 Heidegger’s Nietzsche Volumes: Nihilism, Physiological Aesthetics,
and Volitional Metaphysics 89
5 Hegel and Nietzsche in Holzwege: Religious Skepticism, Witnessing,
and “Subjectity” 107
Part Three Poetics at the “Zero Hour”
6 “Why Poets?”: Cultural Rebirth and the Poetic Inception of Piety 133
7 The Letter on Humanism: Modulations of the German Poet in a
Demonic Text 155
CODA Being and Time as an “Old-Fashioned” Book?
8 Freedom for Death and Prussian Resolve 179
Conclusion: Faith and Fanaticism after Heidegger 201
Notes 211
Selected Bibliography 243
Index 255
Acknowledgments
My greatest debt is to Katherine Arens, who has been a wonderful mentor and
friend to me over the years. She opened my eyes to the importance of intellectual
history for philosophical inquiry, and my interest in Heidegger was kindled by
a conference course I took with her during my graduate student years at the
University of Texas at Austin. Our conversation continues to this day, and she
has been exceptionally generous in sharing her expert knowledge and providing
critical feedback. I cannot be sure that she likes every single part of this book,
but without her it would never have been written.
Kathleen Higgins and the late Robert Solomon guided me with care and
patience through the ever-expanding maze of Nietzsche scholarship, and they
showed me how philosophy can be a way of life. Their passion for teaching
remains an inspiration for my own efforts to promote student-centered learning.
During a two-year stint at the University of Auckland, New Zealand,
I had the privilege to meet Julian Young, one of the foremost contributors to
contemporary Heidegger studies. I have fond memories of our conversations,
and Young remains my role model for clear writing and for resisting the tendency
to explain Heidegger in terms of Heidegger. Also among my former Auckland
colleagues, John Bishop, Robert Wicks, and Imran Aijaz broadened my horizon
in discussing religion, aesthetics, and anything in between. The same can be
said of Aaron Simmons, whom I met during several conferences over the last
few years and whose intellectual verve is contagious in the best possible way.
My colleagues at my home institution, David Wisdo and Daniel Van Kley, have
helped me to stay versatile in my philosophical interests and not get preoccupied
with one era too much. Dr. Walter-Christian Krügerke both deepened and
expanded my thinking about Paul Tillich. Further down memory lane, Dr. Hans
Scholl turned an “early switch,” when I took my very first philosophy class with
him at high-school level. Much later, at the university, I was lucky again, when
I met Thomas Miles, a Kierkegaard specialist and one of the wittiest members
of my philosophy cohort. Everybody needs a fellow traveler in those formative
years, and Tom was mine.
As for the present work, I would also like to thank Marcus Bullock and Sabine
Gross, who offered valuable advice during the later stages of this project. Marcus
Acknowledgments ix
read several advanced drafts and helped me iron out some uneven passages
(especially in the sixth and seventh chapters). He is a fountain of wisdom and I
learned a lot from him in the process. J. Aaron Sanders, Nuria Anne Chaparro,
Fritz Madjid Oesman, and Matthias Raible lifted my spirits whenever I thought
this book would never get finished, and Patrick Jackson helped me push it over
the edge with some last adjustments in the concluding section. Any remaining
shortcomings are my sole responsibility. Another big thank you is due to my
editors at Bloomsbury, Liza Thompson and Frankie Mace, who were supportive
every step along the way and so made the publication process a very rewarding
experience.
In more ways than I can express, I am indebted to my two families in Germany
and Japan. My parents gave me the courage to go with my passions, and I know
that they would always have my back. My brother, Mischa Weidler, remains my
best buddy and my soul mate. My parents-in-law, Kenji and Shizuko Izumi,
welcomed me into their home in Kumamoto, Japan. During each visit, my
mother-in-law continues to spoil us with her amazing cooking, and my father-
in-law refrains from crushing me on the tennis court (though he easily could).
Above all, I am grateful for my wife Mariko Izumi and my son Fabian. They
helped me stay on task, but also reminded me that there is life outside of books.
This work is their achievement, too.