Heidegger, Martin 1889–1976: Critical Essay by L. L. Duroche

The influence of Martin Heidegger on recent German letters has so far outweighed that of any other contemporary German thinker and has had such a profound influence on so many aspects of contemporary German thought that it is only to be expected that German literary criticism and literary theory have also felt the impact of his thinking. Without a doubt, the contribution of Heidegger to modern philosophical thinking surpasses that of any other contemporary philosopher. His work represents in a very true sense a "Copernican turn"; especially significant and probably the most important direct (intended) contribution is Heidegger's "ex-centric" emphasis in the analysis of human existence, the phenomenological attempt to see man "amidst" all that-which-is (Seiendes), to see human Dasein from a perspective other than simply man, from a different "ground", and thereby to overcome the Cartesian subjectivity, the solipsism and the humanism that have been a sore point in Western philosophy since Descartes. Considering factors such as these, it would seem amiss not to focus our attention on the thinking of Heidegger. (pp. 68-9)

[What is my] evaluation of Heidegger's contribution to literary criticism and theory? Beginning with the concept of the "holy",… I would say the following: It is difficult to imagine that criticism which consistently asked the question "What actually did the poet, a past age, another civilization, find to be holy?" would be anything other than Problemgeschichte and not the most exciting Problemgeschichte at that! Yet Heidegger himself at one time suggested that all literary history is Problemgeschichte. Such criticism remains too much bound up with our own historic being, and in trying to decide matters for ourselves—for example, the "problem" of death, or time, or ethical guilt and moral responsibility—we turn to the answers of other ages. In this sense, criticism is not concerned so much with the nature of poetry as such as with the nature of man. Here we are once again back at a central problem of the literary theorist: Where does literary criticism leave off and philosophical anthropology begin? (pp. 101-02)

Read the rest of this Criticism with our Heidegger, Martin 1889–1976: Critical Essay by L. L. Duroche Access Pass.