Heidegger in Ruins, Richard Wolin
Heidegger in Ruins, Richard Wolin
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Heidegger in Ruins
Between Philosophy and Ideology

Author: Richard Wolin

Narrator: Paul Brion

Unabridged: 18 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/31/2023


Synopsis

What does it mean when a radical understanding of National Socialism is inextricably embedded in the work of the twentieth century's most important philosopher?

Martin Heidegger's sympathies for the conservative revolution and National Socialism have long been well known. As the rector of the University of Freiburg in the early 1930s, he worked hard to reshape the university in accordance with National Socialist policies. He also engaged in an all-out struggle to become the movement's philosophical preceptor, "to lead the leader." Yet for years, Heidegger's defenders have tried to separate his political beliefs from his philosophical doctrines. They argued, in effect, that he was good at philosophy but bad at politics. But with the 2014 publication of Heidegger's Black Notebooks, it has become clear that he embraced a far more radical vision of the conservative revolution than previously suspected. His dissatisfaction with National Socialism, it turns out, was mainly that it did not go far enough. The notebooks show that far from being separated from Nazism, Heidegger's philosophy was suffused with it. In this book, Richard Wolin explores what the notebooks mean for our understanding of arguably the most important philosopher of the twentieth century, and of his ideas—and why his legacy remains radically compromised.

About Richard Wolin

Richard Wolin is distinguished professor of history, political science, and comparative literature at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the author of Heidegger's Children: Hannah Arendt, Karl Lowith, Hans Jonas, and Herbert Marcuse and The Seduction of Unreason: The Intellectual Romance with Fascism from Nietzsche to Postmodernism.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Beauregard on June 26, 2023

I thought this book excelled for multiple reasons. The thrust of the book is showing how completely entwined Heidegger and his philosophy are with the Nazis and Fascism and the author does that masterfully. Here’s a warning for anyone. If someone reads Oswald Spengler and thinks he was a serious phil......more

Goodreads review by Noah on February 19, 2023

This is going to be a hard review… First, I want to point out that my review of such an important book comes from a perspective of a gay man who has spent a ton of time reading Heidegger for his philosophical importance and impressions, and have been taught a lot of Heidegger by a Jewish female philo......more

Goodreads review by Doug on March 14, 2024

Finished this book on Heidegger and it was pretty horrifying. Alongside Víctor Farías and Víctor Ernesto Farías, Richard Wolin shows that it is utter obfuscation to make a distinction between Heidegger's philosophy and politics. He supported the Third Reich based on his philosophy and was a member o......more

Goodreads review by Toby on August 28, 2024

An essential book, but insanely repetitive. Could easily have been half the length. The chapter on Heidegger and the contemporary Far Right is worth reading by itself.......more

Goodreads review by Jan on May 09, 2023

R. Wolin's book peels back the layers on Heidegger the person and the philosopher in "Heidegger in Ruins." Having read a lot on Heidegger as an existentialist, Heidegger's work was, even in its native German, overly complicated and opaque for a hobby philosophy reader to comprehend. Wolin puts Heide......more