Heidegger as a victim of his Time and Being.

I am shaken. Disappointed and concerned. Frightened even. This is how one feels when idols fall from their pedestals and role models turn out to be so fundamentally wrong. "I haven't let the cat out of the bag yet”, said Martin Heidegger to his friends. Now the cat is out. His “Black Notebooks”, all 1300 pages containing his “Holy of Holies”, that were only allowed to be printed posthumously, have been published. And with them, some familiarly brilliant thoughts, but also some, that are clearly criminal.

All of us need role models. Only Oscar Wild could say that there’s no such thing as bad influence. It might have sounded good to him at the time, but it is simply not true. People make mistakes. If you analyse the word “Mistake”, you find a composite of two words: ”mis” – false, and “take” – attempt. There is a reason why this colloquial of Latin “Error” (wandering about, to be led astray) has been formed to mean “Failure”. It contains a hidden innuendo of the existence of another, possibly right, “take”. And so, true followers of Martin Heidegger, me among them, have lived in hope that the great man had allowed himself to be seduced by the idea of National Socialism, only for a moment.

The “Black Notebooks” show the true Martin Heidegger, unedited. For this reason, some of his notes from1939, as he long disapproved of Hitler’s ideas, make it clear how he thought. “After full examination of the delusion of “Being” in the National Socialism arises the need of its affirmation, namely for intellectual reasons." Another words: Fascism hadn’t fulfilled the requirements of a “perfect regime”, according to Heidegger. It failed dismally to stop the Americanisation and over- modernization. Hitler hadn’t managed that, what Heidegger hoped would be the rebirth of a great nation. Return to it’s roots, back to the “last God” of Hölderlin. Instead there was money put into development of cinema, in radio, new roads and mechanization of farms. Modernization, that is bound to lead only to ruin of the pure “Being”. By 1941, he is obsessed with the idea that the progress, the modern “technology”, should be blown up to clear the world from total destruction. Together with “today’s people”, as ultimate “Cleansing” of “Being”. Through and through, shines his outrage against “people”, who had lost touch with ur-form of “Being”, had forgotten their real purpose.

“People”. Not Jews or Catholics, Orthodox Christians or Moslems in particular, although now and again, he mentions all of them separately as the “Axis of Evil”. According to him we are all superfluous because blind to the reality and purpose of “Being”. His is a “Back to the Blackboard plan”. Wipe it clean and start all over. For that, one needs a national revolution, but who is going to dare it? Culture and Religion, are according to him, the two great deterrents, because they allow the masses the flight into nihilism. "We are facing Nothing – indeed, but in such a way that we do nothing to change this stance." Therefore, somebody has to come and help. Finally, in 1933, is the rescuer there.

The rescuer thinks that Heidegger is the best thing since sliced bread. Who else can give Fascism its glossy image the way he can. But Heidegger feels himself misunderstood. “The time, in which a boxer is seen as a hero”, is an insult to his intelligence. And so, his moral gets a crack. Hitler is not a rescuer of mankind any more, but a pale copy of what humanity already had: in a nutshell- a traitor. And with him at the steering wheel, Germany is heading for the same Apocalypse as before. Remains to find a scapegoat, and such, is since times immemorial there – the Jews. Of course! They, with their “ Mentality of calculating and business acumen, are a hostile power, gaining strength and “lodging those menial mechanisms in minds of the people. They are totally incapable of clear “ur-thinking: the more original the questions, the more zipped up this race gets. ”

Heidegger finds that all parties involved in the WWII are similar in their pathetic way of thinking. All are results of the “rootless Jewish metaphysic”, the “humanistic and pacifistic lot” that inevitably brings on its own demise, implementing the “Despotism of Nobody”. Suffocation by morals. Caused, indeed by the spread of German Jews into the world. This conspiracy theory ironically goes so far, that according to Peter Tawny, the publisher of the “Black Notebooks”, it almost seems he feels that the Nazis themselves are “ Germans seduced by the Jews”.

The bomb had exploded. All possible societies came to the surface and began to either anathemize Heidegger, or in the contrary, try to prove that his sentences are torn out of concept, and anyway, “everyone knew he was an anti-Semite, but it is a normal way of thinking for a man, who was a by-product of his early Catholic affiliation”.

Ever since the WWII, there has been another war going on. That of the post-war generation of intellectuals against their war – time counterparts, who had the power of rhetoric on their side to move the masses, make a difference, but chose not to. I know that Heidegger greatly profited from the rise of National – Socialist regime. I also know that he had a lover, a Jewish philosopher Hanna Arendt, a Jewish assistant, with whom he had contact all the time and whom he helped a lot. His major philosophical and metaphysical works have little to do with anti-Semitism. I also thought it was too easy to criticize, not having lived at that time. We are all heroes from behind our desks, always ready to wave the hypothetical sabre, never joining a political party or having to risk our lives or positions to prove the point.

It is a necessity for thinking people to busy themselves with topics of choice. Thoughts live when they are voiced. The best way to achieve it is to form a society circle, to choose a hero or nemesis, around whom one can then gather these thoughts and form them elegantly, impressing yourself and others with clarity of reasoning and eloquence of speech. The real thinkers are lonely wolves, people existing on such a high metaphysical level that opinions of others simply don’t exist. You can either weave your own web, or busy yourself criticizing others. To me, societies ripping of the tedious work of those others are a collection of mediocrities.

Heideggers crazy whirlpool of thoughts and complot theories proves that he has gone to such far spheres, that he lost touch with humanity itself. He separated himself from the human element and made a fetish of “Being” as of an independent concept, pure, clear and in need of preservation in it’s ur-form, cost it what it may. Does this make him a monster? Should all his work then be declared taboo? Is it still possible to separate Heidegger the philosopher from Heidegger the person?

If your life is in danger because of a terrible disease, what criteria would you use to find the best surgeon? Would you look for a kind, politically correct person who likes children and pets, or would you prefer an emotional cripple, who is a competent professional? A tough decision to make. What makes philosophy different? Philosophy doesn’t have a purpose, and as such may not be confused with politics. It is also not kind or evil, it is thinking in its purest form, unadulterated with concerns of state, interpersonal relationships and weather outside. Free from bigotry and opinion and a fool- free zone. It may not suit everyone, but philosophy doesn’t care. Such is Heideggers work, apart from his personal struggles and mis –takes.