1. For a summary of lines of analysis from another angle of vision. see Thomä, Die Zeit des Selbst und die Zeit danach (see Introd., n. 6). pp. 474-487. According to Thomä, there is no strict unity between Heidegger's thought and his Nazi engagement. See ibid., p. 468. He maintains that no one has so far understood Heidegger's Nazi turning on the basis of the texts. See ibid., p. 468.

Page 371

But he emphasizes that Heidegger's later writings are deeply rooted in his commitment to National Socialism. See ibid., p. 796. [BACK]

2. For Adorno's claim that Heidegger's thought was fascist through and through, see Theodor Adorno, Musikalische Schriften (Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1976), 5/6:637-638. The criticism occurs in a letter in which Adorno defended himself against the charge of having collaborated with the Hitler regime. He writes in part (p. 638): "Wer die Kontinuitat meiner Arbeit überblickt, dürfte reich nicht mit Heidegger vergleichen, dessen Philosophie bis in ihre innersten Zellen faschistisch ist." For a discussion of Adorno's criticism, see Lacoue-Labarthe, La fiction du politique (see chap. 6, n. 129), pp. 150-151n. See also Theodor Adorno, Jargon der Eigentlichkeit: Zur deutschen Ideologie (Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1964). See, for a Heideggerian analysis of the Heidegger-Adorno relation, Hermann Mörchen, Macht und Herrschaft im Denken von Heidegger und Adorno (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1980), and Adorno und Heidegger: Untersuchung einer philosophischen Kommunikationsverweigerung (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1981). [BACK]

3. Beaufret wrote extensively on Heidegger. For his list of publications, many of which concern various aspects of Heidegger's thought, see "Essai de bibliographie de Jean Beaufret," in Jean Beaufret, De l'existentialisme à Heidegger: Introduction aux philosophies de l'existence (Paris: Vrin, 1986), pp. 171-182. For a representative sample of his view of Heidegger's politics, see Jean Beaufret, "En chemin avec Heidegger," in Martin Heidegger , ed. Haar (see chap. 6, n. 42), pp. 205-232. [BACK]

4. See Fédier, Heidegger: Anatomie d'un scandale (see chap. 3, n. 69). [BACK]

5. See Aubenque, "Encore Heidegger et le nazisme" (see chap. 2, n. 59). pp. 113-123. [BACK]

6. See Vietta, Heideggers Kritik am Nationalsozialismus und an der Technik (see chap. 1, n. 31). [BACK]

7. See "Work and Weltanschauung: The Heidegger Controversy from a German Perspective," in Jürgen Habermas, The New Conservatism: Cultural Criticism and the Historians' Debate , ed. and trans. Shierry Nicholsen, introd. by Richard Wolin (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1989), pp. 140-172. [BACK]

8. See Richard Rorty, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 111: "On the general question of the relation between Heidegger's thought and his Nazism, I am not persuaded that there is much to be said expect perhaps that one of the century's most original thinkers happened to be a pretty nasty character. He was the sort of man who could betray his Jewish colleagues for the sake of his own ambition, and then manage to forget what he had done. But if one holds the view of the self as centerless which I put forth in Chapter 2, one will be prepared to find the relation between the intellectual and moral virtue, and the relation between a writer's books and the other parts of his life, contingent." See also Richard Rorty, "Taking Philosophy Seriously," The New Republic , 11 April 1988, pp. 31-34, and Richard Rorty, ''Diary,'' London Review of Books , 8 February 1990, p. 21. [BACK]

9. See Derrida, De l'esprit: Heidegger et la question (see chap. 1, n. 28). [BACK]

10. See Lacoue-Labarthe, La fiction du politique (see chap. 6, n. 129). See also Lacoue-Labarthe, L'imitation des modernes (see chap. 2, n. 123). [BACK]

11. See Löwith, "Les implications politiques de la philosophie de l'existence chez Heidegger" (see Introd., n. 2), and Löwith, Mein Leben in Deutschland (see chap. 2, n. 8). [BACK]

12. See Bourdieu, L'ontologie politique de Martin Heidegger (see chap. 2, n. 53). [BACK]

13. See Janicaud, L'ombre de cette pensée (see Introd., n. 7). [BACK]

14. See Zimmerman, Heidegger's Confrontation with Modernity . (see chap. 1, n. 23). [BACK]

15. See Wolin, The Politics of Being (see chap. 1, n. 1).

16. See Thomä, Die Zeit des Selbst und die Zeit danach (see Introd., n. 6). Thomä, who has provided the most extensive study of Heidegger's texts to date, specifically proposes to demonstrate "die konsequente Ableitung von Heideggers NS-Engagement aus seiner Philosophie." Ibid., p. 30. [BACK]

15. See Wolin, The Politics of Being (see chap. 1, n. 1).

16. See Thomä, Die Zeit des Selbst und die Zeit danach (see Introd., n. 6). Thomä, who has provided the most extensive study of Heidegger's texts to date, specifically proposes to demonstrate "die konsequente Ableitung von Heideggers NS-Engagement aus seiner Philosophie." Ibid., p. 30. [BACK]

17. See "Un entretien avec Jacques Derrida" (see chap. 7, n. 74), p. 172. [BACK]

18. Ernst Krieck, "Der Wandel der Weltanschauung," Süddeutsche Monatshefte 33/34:638-639, cited in Laugstien, Philosophieverhältnisse (see chap. 2, n. 25), p. 48. [BACK]

19. For an expression of this view, see writings by Rorty, cited in n. 8. [BACK]

20. According to Feyerabend, "Schizophrenics very often hold beliefs which are as rigid, all-pervasive, and unconnected with reality as are the best dogmatic philosophies. However, such beliefs come to them naturally whereas a 'critical' philosopher may sometimes spend his whole life in attempting to find arguments which create a similar state of mind." Paul Feyerabend, Against Method (London: Verso, 1978), p. 45. [BACK]

21. For these views see respectively Hans-Georg Gadamer, "On the Political Incompetence of Philosophers," in Heidegger and Politics , ed. Rockmore and Margolis (see chap. 4, n. 243), and Jacques Derrida, "Like the Sound of the Sea Deep within a Shell: Paul de Man's War," Critical Inquiry 14 (Spring 1988): pp. 590-652. [BACK]

22. Among recent thinkers, this point has been perhaps most strongly made by Margolis and Goodman. See Joseph Margolis, The Persistence of Reality , 3 vols. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986-1989), and The Truth about Relativism (Oxford: Blackwell, forthcoming). See also Nelson Goodman, Ways of Worldmaking (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1978). [BACK]

23. On the question of theory and practice in Heidegger's thought, see Otto Pöggeler, Philosophie und Politik bei Heidegger (Freiburg and Munich: Karl Albers, 1972). See also Schwan, Politische Philosophie im Denken Heideggers (see chap. 3, n. 115), and Gerold Prauss, Erkennen und Handeln in Heideggers "Sein und Zeit " (Freiburg i. B. and Munich: Albers, 1977). [BACK]

24. For a recent discussion of the political dimension of this problem, see Ian Maclean, Alan Montefiore, and Peter Winch, eds., The Political Responsibility of Intellectuals (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). [BACK]

25. See Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason , trans. Smith (see chap. 1, n. 12), B 862, pp. 654-655. [BACK]

27. For a discussion of the letter and its significance, see Sieg, "Die Verjudung des deutschen Geistes" (see chap. 3, n. 114). [BACK]

28. See Heidegger, Nietzsche (German ed.; see chap. 4, n. 85), 2:309. [BACK]

29. Heidegger, Basic Writings , ed. Krell (see chap. 1, n. 10), p. 202.

30. Ibid., p. 222. [BACK]

29. Heidegger, Basic Writings , ed. Krell (see chap. 1, n. 10), p. 202.

30. Ibid., p. 222. [BACK]

31. Heidegger clearly rejected the biological reductionism of National Socialism. See, e.g., his criticism of the Nazi control of culture under Goebbels as tantamount to Schwängerungsführung and his objection to the very idea of the production of Führernaturen , "Wer ist Nietzsches Zarathustra?" in Vorträge und Aufsätze (see chap. 4, n. 80), pp. 91-92. [BACK]

32. Heidegger's letter of 8 April 1950, in Briefwechsel 1920-1963 (see chap. 2, n. 27), p. 202. [BACK]

33. Heidegger's letter to Jaspers of 8 April 1950, in Briefwechsel 1920-1963 , p. 203. [BACK]

34. Briefwechsel 1920-1963 , p. 210.

35. Ibid., pp. 210-211. [BACK]

34. Briefwechsel 1920-1963 , p. 210.

35. Ibid., pp. 210-211. [BACK]

36. For the assertion that fiction and reality cannot be distinguished, see de Man, Blindness and Insight (see chap. 4, n. 11). pp. 75, 136, and de Man, Allegories of Reading (see Introd., n. 8), p. 293. For a recent, semipopular study of the hidden political background of de Man, see David Lehman, Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man (New York: Poseidon Press, 1991). [BACK]

37. This seems to have happened in France. For a clear indication, in the response to the French translation of Ott's book, that for Heidegger's closest supporters nothing has changed, see "Réponses à Hugo Ott," Le Monde , 14 décembre 1990, p. 24. [BACK]