martin Heideggerquotes

1889 - 1976

Photograph of Martin HeideggerGerman philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) radically rethought Aristotle’s philosophies and devoted his life to ontology (the study of being). With the publication of his masterwork, Being and Time, he laid a framework to be built upon by numerous other schools of thought and philosophers. It won him international renown as a leading philosopher of his day, and Heidegger continues to be known as an original thinker who significantly influenced contemporary European philosophy.

However, Heidegger’s works have also drawn much criticism and have remained controversial because of his deep involvement with the Nazi movement in the 1930s. After the war, he was banned for teaching because of this involvement. The ban was lifted in 1950, and he went back to work at Freiburg University for another decade.

His students found him mesmerizing and engaging as a professor, and he is famous for his theories on existentialism and phenomenology. Interestingly, as soon as Being and Time was in print, Heidegger found fault with its basic approach. He began a second work to accompany it, but never finished. Obsessed with culling the mystery of being, Heidegger turned less toward philosophy to answer his questions and more toward poetry. He was particularly captivated by the works of Rainer Maria Rilke and Friedrich Hölderlin.

Heidegger would have loved to see a return of the Greek traditions, for he found Western thought nihilistic. The classical experience of being, he believed, was the way for society to begin anew.

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