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How reliable are philosophical works written in Germany during the Nazi period in terms of genuine thought and feeling? Heidegger never admitted to hating the Jews as part of his Dasein, but is his later refusal to repudiate his Nazi membership indicative of the former?
Accepted:
February 23, 2014

Comments

Oliver Leaman
February 27, 2014 (changed February 27, 2014) Permalink

We should not confuse a good philosopher with a good person. If we study someone's thought we have the right to expect them to have something interesting to say, but not to be nice.

Plumbing is part of Dasein but we should not look to Heidegger for advice on how to unblock a toilet. Similarly, his views on politics and Jews were no doubt reprehensible, but that is not what we go to him for.

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