Martin Heidegger: A Political Life

Heidegger's Political Life

In the 1980s and 1990s, the philosopher Martin Heidegger's (1889 -- 1976) association with Nazism came under increasing scrutiny. I have been struggling with Heidegger again and rereading "Being and Time" (1927). In the process, I wanted to learn more about the nature of Heidegger's ties to Nazism. Thus, I read with interest this book by Hugo Ott, "Martin Heidegger: A Political Life" (1993) which has become one of the standard treatments of the subject. Ott is Professor of Economics and Social History at the University of Freiburg. Heidegger spent most of his philosophical career at Freiburg, as an assistant to the famous philosopher Edmund Husserl and then, following a period at Marburg where he wrote "Being and Time" assuming Husserl's chair at Freiburg in 1928. Infamously, Heidegger became Rector at Freiburg in 1933 where he was a strongly activist supporter of Hitler.

In his latter years, with an interview he gave to the German newspaper Der Spiegel in 1966 (not published until after his death) and in a book called "Facts and Thoughts", Heidegger tried to downplay his association with Nazism. Many of Heidegger's supporters have tried to characterize the philosopher as a political innocent who had no real idea of the nature of the political views he claimed to espouse. Using archival material. letters, and Heidegger's own writings, Ott shows that Heidegger's claims and those of apologists do not stand up. From the early days of the 1930s Heidegger became increasingly involved with Nazism and with remaking the German universities in its image. His involvement continued well into the 1930s, following his resignation from the Rectorship in April, 1934. Heidegger was indeed a committed follower of Hitler and National Socialism and he vied albeit unsuccessfully with other less intellectually gifted and more unscrupulous individuals for a position of intellectual leadership within the movement.

Ott's book is not a full biography of Heidegger. It is sketchy on matters other than the philosopher's political involvement and includes little of his intellectual development -- the books he read that influenced him -- and his personal life. Ott also does not discuss Heidegger's philosophy in much detail. His account of the writing of "Being and Time" is scant in the extreme. Ott claims that philosophy is not within his expertise. Beyond some rather broad generalizations, he does relatively little in exploring the extent and nature of the link between Heidegger's philosophy and his politics.

Thus, in his study, Ott shows Heidegger increasingly involved with Nazi activity, but I still was unsure how, why and when Heidegger became attracted to Nazism. Ott gives a detailed portrayal of Heidegger's activities during his Rectorship, including his inaugural speech, his attempt to reshape the German universities, his informing on a chemist named Herman Staudinger, a subsequent recipient of the Nobel Prize, and his shabby treatment of Edmund Husserl, his former mentor. Ott also describes Heidegger's career after his rectorship in which he remained, for a time, committed to Nazism. Ott discusses the difficult question of Heidegger's attitude towards Jews and finds considerable evidence at some periods of his life of Anti-Semitism. As the 1930s continued, Heidegger came under surveillance from the Nazis who tried to censor or ban some of his writings.

In 1945, with the end of WW II and the occupation of Freiburg, Heidegger was subjected to a lengthy denazification proceeding. The result was a ban on Heidegger teaching which remained in place until 1951. Ott offers a full account of this proceeding. The evidence that was introduced remains critical in understanding Heidegger's relationship to Nazism. Heidegger, in the course of his long post-war life, never fully came to terms with Nazism or explained or apologized for his role.

In addition to discussing Heidegger and Nazism, Ott offers insight into the philosopher's relationship to Catholicism. Heidegger, born to a devout Catholic family, was able to pursue his studies only because of Catholic financial assistance. He briefly thought of becoming a priest. He abandoned Catholicism around 1916-1917, but Ott points out that his attitude to his former faith remained ambivalent. "Being and Time" for example rebels against scholasticism even while its author remains deeply steeped in it. Ott argues that Heidegger struggled with Catholicism throughout his life. I think he is correct in this, and that Heidegger's religious seekings are an integral part of his thought, as important as are the political dimensions.

Many readers, myself included, struggle with Heidegger because of the sense his works convey of insight. Thus in his report to the Denazification Commission, Karl Jaspers, who was severely critical of Heidegger wrote: "In the full flow of his discourse he occasionally succeeds in hitting the nerve of the philosophical enterprise in a most mysterious and marvellous way." (Ott, p. 338) Ott's book nowhere denies the importance of Heidegger's thought or on the fascination it exerts on people who are far from the Nazism that captured the philosopher. Ott's book, nevertheless, offers grounds for pause and for careful reflection in reading and coming to an understanding of the thought of Heidegger.

Robin Friedman