Martin Heidegger German existentialist philosopher Date of Birth: 26.09.1889 Country: Germany

1. Martin Heidegger: Biography of a German Existentialist Philosopher
2. The Philosophy of Martin Heidegger
3. Heidegger's Turn to the East

Martin Heidegger: Biography of a German Existentialist Philosopher

Martin Heidegger was born on September 26, 1889, in Meßkirch, Baden. He passed away on May 26, 1976, in the same town. He studied at the University of Freiburg under the guidance of G. Rickert. From 1916, he worked as an assistant to E. Husserl. He became a professor at the University of Marburg from 1923 to 1928 and then at the University of Freiburg from 1928 to 1951, where he served as rector from 1933 to 1934. However, in 1945, he was dismissed due to his collaboration with the Nazis.

The Philosophy of Martin Heidegger

In the early years, Heidegger's worldview incorporated various tendencies of idealistic philosophy from the late 19th to the early 20th century. These included the phenomenology of Husserl and M. Scheler, the philosophy of life of W. Dilthey, and certain motifs from dialectical theology.

In his work "Being and Time" (1927), Heidegger raises the question of the meaning of existence, which he believes has been "forgotten" by traditional European philosophy. By attempting to build ontology based on Husserlian phenomenology, Heidegger aims to reveal the "meaning of being" by examining human existence. According to him, only human beings inherently possess an understanding of being ("being-open"). Heidegger considers the ontological foundation of human existence to be its finiteness and temporality, therefore, time must be regarded as the most essential characteristic of being.

Heidegger seeks to reinterpret the European philosophical tradition, which viewed pure being as something timeless. He attributes the cause of this "inauthentic" understanding of being to the absolutization of one aspect of time - the present, the "eternal presence," where true temporality seems to disintegrate into a sequential series of "now" moments, forming physical (or, according to Heidegger, "vulgar") time. Heidegger believes that the main flaw of modern science, as well as European worldview in general, lies in the identification of being with the existing, empirical world of things and phenomena.

For Heidegger, the experience of temporality is synonymous with a sharp sense of personal existence. Focus on the future gives genuine existence to an individual, while an emphasis on the present leads to the everyday world of things, overshadowing one's finitude. Concepts such as "anxiety," "resolve," "conscience," "guilt," and "care" express the spiritual experience of a person who feels their uniqueness, singularity, and mortality. However, in the mid-1930s, these concepts are gradually replaced by notions that express not so much personal and ethical reality but rather impersonal and cosmic dimensions, such as being and non-being, hiddenness and disclosure, foundation and groundlessness, earthly and heavenly, human and divine. Heidegger attempts to comprehend the essence of human beings based on the "truth of being."

Heidegger's Turn to the East

In his later years, Heidegger increasingly turned his attention to the East, particularly Zen Buddhism. He found a connection with Zen Buddhism through a longing for the "inexpressible" and the "inarticulate," a propensity for mystical contemplation, and a metaphorical mode of expression. This search for being led him beyond the boundaries of Western philosophy towards the mysticism and wisdom of the East.