Briefwechsel 1920 - 1963

by Martin Heidegger

These letters provide extraordinary insights, both personal and philosophical, into two major thinkers of the twentieth century. Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers met at a celebration marking the sixty-first birthday of Edmund Husserl. Recognizing in each other a shared vision of what philosophy should be, they struck up a friendship, which continued through correspondence carried on over four decades and which weathered many vicissitudes.

While the first thirteen years of their acquaintance were marked by a collegial exchange of views on philosophical issues of mutual interest, their relationship changed significantly when the National Socialists came to power in 1933. Heidegger continued to teach at the fascist-controlled Freiburg University, and even joined the Nazi Party. By contrast, Jaspers, whose wife was Jewish, was forced into retirement. After the war, during the Freiburg de-Nazification process, Jaspers sharply criticized Heidegger's conduct but nonetheless stressed the lasting value of his philosophical contributions. Despite this conflict, the two men still found common ground and continued to correspond until 1963.

The letters touch on many points of philosophical interest to both men, yet only hint at the political turmoil that swirled around them. They discuss how they came to see themselves as personally connected but publicly misidentified as "existentialists." There are also many illuminating exchanges concerning Hannah Arendt, Karl Löwith, Max Weber, Edmund Husserl, and others. Editors Walter Biemel and Hans Saner provide a wealth of references and annotations that make these personal letters accessible to contemporary readers.

This first English translation of the correspondence between two giants of 20th-century German philosophy will be of great interest to philosophers, historians, and anyone intrigued by the Heidegger controversy.

Genres: Philosophy

299 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was a German philosopher whose work is perhaps most readily associated with phenomenology and existentialism, although his thinking should be identified as part of such philosophical movements only with extreme care and qualification. His ideas have exerted a seminal influence on the development of contemporary European philosophy. They have also had an impact far beyond philosophy, for example in architectural theory (see e.g., Sharr 2007), literary criticism (see e.g., Ziarek 1989), theology (see e.g., Caputo 1993), psychotherapy (see e.g., Binswanger 1943/1964, Guignon 1993) and cognitive science (see e.g., Dreyfus 1992, 2008; Wheeler 2005; Kiverstein and Wheeler forthcoming).

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1920, the young and unknown Heidegger wrote a critical review of Jasper's book “Psychology of Worldviews”. Jasper was impressed by the article and by the young philosopher; and consequently opened himself to him and offered his friendship. In a few years they become very close friends; as they met and discussed philosophy for days at a time. They even planned a new journal where the two of them will take on the philosophy of their time. Their correspondence is full of discussions regarding professors appointments and recommendations in the German university system. Heidegger always met with Jasper and asked for his advice before making any decisions regarding different academic offers. After Heidegger's acceptance of the Nazi's rectorship in 1933, all the communications between the two ceased for more than 10 years. In 1945, Jasper recommended to the denazification committee that Heidegger should be banned from teaching for several years – and this indeed happened. In the same letter, Jasper denounced Heidegger's thinking as some kind of mystical nonsense. They tried to reconnect and forgive each other before dying, but this was no longer possible – as Heidegger refused to acknowledge any guilt and to apologize in private or public. Jasper never fully grasped Heidegger's philosophical project and he was terrified by what he glimpsed from Heidegger's thoughts. In one such final letter, Heidegger criticized Jasper's approach to technology as too simplistic and presented his own understanding of current technology that started with Plato's ideas and in the light of Being. Jasper in turn wrote to Heidegger about old memories, guilt, repentance, and his incomprehension of truth as unconcealment.