Heidegger en de mythe van de Joodse wereldsamenzwering

by Peter Trawny, Leon Otto de Vries (Translator)

In 2014 verschenen Heideggers Überlegungen, 'Overdenkingen', de eerste reeks van de door hemzelf zo genoemde Zwarte Schriften. Ze voegen een geheel nieuwe dimensie aan het oeuvre van Heidegger toe en hebben tot een buitengewone media-aandacht geleid. Heideggers Überlegungen laten zien dat antisemitische ideeën in een bepaald stadium zijn denken kleurden. Daarbij lijken de Protocollen van de wijzen van Sion, de voornaamste bron van het moderne en postmoderne antisemitisme, een hoofdrol te spelen. Peter Trawny gaat in Heidegger en de mythe van de Joodse wereldsamenzwering in op de vraag welke betekenis deze geestelijke knieval heeft voor het geheel van Heideggers denken.

PETER TRAWNY (1964), een van 's werelds invloedrijkste Heidegger- kenners, is hoogleraar filosofie en directeur van het Martin Heidegger Instituut aan de universiteit van Wuppertal. Als redacteur van Heideggers Schwarze Hefte is hij nauw betrokken bij de publicatie van diens Verzameld werk.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Tijmen Lansdaal · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it comes to Trawny and other Heideggerians, his milkshake does bring all the boys to the yard. All Heideggerian sophists squirm in the face of Trawny, relapsing into altogether much too crude, coarse and commonplace thinking. Trawny's work is seriously challenging and easily misunderstood. Much to my surprise, he offers much more arguments against the presence of any viable conception of antisemitism in Heidegger than for. To be clear: I am deeply convinced that he has what you may call a 'hidden agenda', although I am of course of the opinion that this agenda is apparent.

The itinerary of the book is largely unclear and seems associative. It structurally expounds a 'contamination' in Heidegger's thought - a concept that he admits is Heideggerian (I was thinking more Derridean, but whatever). As Trawny explicitly states, one cannot really think through the consequences of this contamination. Ultimately, one must rather attempt the thought of the problem itself and determine how to understand it. Thinking is mutilated by Heidegger. Thinking must bear its proper pain, having been lead astray by Heidegger. Such consistent appeals are entirely consonant with Heidegger's appeal to the thought of Being. The idea that Heidegger reminds us of the darkest pages of our history and we could be thankful for it - is this not the gist of Trawny's essay? Is it not now that we can finally carry the weight of being a German on our shoulders, or that we can start 'trusting the trail of tears' (Celan [so yeah, not the 'Trail of Tears' - sorry])? Unlike the often very complex rhetorical questions posed in Trawny's book, which allow him to avoid drawing any conclusions or condemnations, mine one should simply answer with 'yes'.

It strikes me that at the very least profound irony befalls this whole discussion. Surely, one could ponder the question of Heidegger's nazism long and hard, but perhaps that's altogether not as urgent as Trawny makes it out to be. Trawny's work is not coincidentally 'contaminated'; its train of thought forcefully moves within the Heideggerian framework, further mythologizing it. Let me guess: only in the vicinity of the ultimate obscurity of this problem can a secret become pertinent for us all, and will we be at the height of our thinking? What about all the other worries mankind has?

As part Heidegger enthousiast, I can imagine this to be a pretty profound and touching narrative for most. Peter Trawny is a brave and erudite man and I regret that he's become such a controversial figure (among people he should be getting respect from). But as so much more than part Heidegger enthousiast, I can only giggle at the reception this is getting and shake my head at the often confusing state of philosophical discourse.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8?? An sich ein schlüssiges Werk, welches sehr interessante Parallelen und Bezugspunkte in der Argumentation herstellt. Aber Trawny scheut sich vollends, Heidegger Antisemitismus zuzuschreiben. Manchmal finden sich auch komische Formulierungen im Text...Aber an sich ein sehr guter Einstieg in das Thema.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, as far as it goes.