Kyle Pooley

Thinking Heidegger's Unthought

Introduction

Thinking heidegger's unthought. Examine Heidegger's philosophy, the 'Black Notebooks,' and his complex ties to National Socialism, antisemitism, and technology critique. This essay unpacks his 'unthought' to rescue his ideas.

Abstract

This essay confronts the on-going debate surrounding the “Heidegger affair” in two ways. First, given what we have learned from the publication of the Black Notebooks, the question of whether Heidegger’s thinking is ‘contaminated’ or inseparable from his encounter with National Socialism is problematised in three related reasons: 1) the notebooks reveal Heidegger’s increasingly critical attitude towards National Socialism, 2) Heidegger’s turn away from National Socialism can be ascribed to his ‘being-historical antisemitism,’ and 3) Heidegger’s conceptually distinct antisemitism is intimately tied to his criticism of technology. Second, the essay proceeds to question what it means to think with and against Heidegger and, moreover, the possibility of ‘rescuing’ him from the ‘danger’ of his own thought. This essay does so by appeal to Heidegger himself, i.e., how Heidegger would proceed to ‘think his own unthought.’ To think Heidegger’s unthought requires going back to his criticism of technology and his ‘being-historical antisemitism’ in order to show how Heidegger thought about the poetical ‘rescuing’ growing within the ‘danger’ of technology.

Review

This essay proposes a timely and ambitious intervention into the persistent "Heidegger affair," a debate reignited with particular intensity following the publication of the Black Notebooks. The author aims to confront the vexing question of whether Heidegger's philosophical project is inextricably linked to, or irredeemably contaminated by, his engagement with National Socialism and its underlying antisemitism. The abstract outlines a two-pronged approach: first, it seeks to problematize the notion of contamination by offering a nuanced account of Heidegger's evolving stance and the nature of his antisemitism, and second, it endeavors to explore the possibility of engaging with Heidegger's thought by "thinking his own unthought." A significant strength of the proposed essay lies in its commitment to dissecting the complexities revealed by the Black Notebooks. The author's intention to differentiate Heidegger's increasingly critical attitude towards National Socialism from his "being-historical antisemitism," and crucially, to connect this distinct antisemitism with his broader critique of technology, promises a sophisticated re-evaluation of the philosopher's political entanglements. This approach moves beyond simplistic judgments, suggesting a more intricate interplay of ideas within Heidegger's evolving thought. Furthermore, the essay's second primary contribution—to appeal to Heidegger himself in order to "think his own unthought"—offers a methodologically intriguing pathway. By re-examining the nexus of his technological critique and "being-historical antisemitism," the author seeks to uncover a "poetical 'rescuing'" that purportedly emerges from within the "danger" of technology, thereby offering a potential framework for navigating the problematic aspects of his philosophy. While the abstract articulates a compelling agenda, the ultimate success of the essay will hinge on the rigorous execution of its ambitious claims. The notion of a "poetical 'rescuing'" growing within technological danger, and its purported connection to Heidegger's antisemitism, demands careful and convincing argumentation to avoid either exonerating or oversimplifying his problematic views. The essay's ability to demonstrate *how* Heidegger thought about this 'rescuing' in relation to his "being-historical antisemitism" will be crucial for its persuasive power and scholarly impact. Nevertheless, this proposed work offers a potentially vital contribution to Heidegger scholarship, promising to deepen our understanding of a complex and controversial figure by engaging with his thought on its own terms, while remaining critically aware of its darkest implications.

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