New Books in Philosophy Richard Polt, "Time and Trauma: Thinking Through Heidegger in the Thirties" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020)
Mar 4, 2020
In this engaging discussion, Richard Polt, a philosophy professor and Heidegger expert, tackles the controversial aspects of Martin Heidegger’s thought during the 1930s. He delves into the philosopher's fraught relationship with Nazism, analyzing its impact on his ideas about selfhood and community. Polt explores concepts like ecstatic temporality and collective identity, advocating for a deeper understanding of trauma in shaping existence. He also critiques superficial despair, urging listeners to confront discomfort for personal and political transformation.
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Struggle Keeps The Question Alive
- Heidegger values struggle as an ongoing questioner that prevents settling into fixed identities.
- Polt contrasts this with Carl Schmitt's binary political enemy framing and Heidegger's deeper question of collective selfhood.
Black Notebooks As Thought Journals
- The Black Notebooks are Heidegger's bound thought journals filled with experimental, often bitter reflections.
- They revived controversy with scattered anti‑Jewish remarks entwining metaphysical language and political complaint.
All Modernisms As Subjectivity
- By the late 30s Heidegger lumps Nazism, liberalism, and communism as different forms of subjectivity and machination.
- He seeks a 'second inception' to overturn late modern domination by technical will to power.
