What is Philosophy?

Heidegger could be marked as a Greekofiel without much arguing. He states that the love for wisdom, philosophy, is a typical Greek endeavor. Since a lot of cultures have words for wisdom (sophia), like 'chokhmah' in Hebrew, such a statement can not be made before comparing content of this concept in different cultures.

That being said and clear in mind, it is a rather exciting little text. In answering the question 'what is - philosophy?' he goes back to the incentive why the Greeks start philosophizing, the 'pathos' of the philosophy. According to Heidegger this pathos was the wondering about the being of beings. That being is.

The question he asks us, what makes us start philosophizing now. He places emphasis on the modern turn to show more uncertainty as pathos for philosophizing, so that the practice became a search for certain knowledge, illustrated by Decartes cogito ergo sum as answer in the search for absolute certainty.

This modern pathos of uncertainty has two results. On the one hand you get stubborn fundamentalist, on the other hand people become apathetic. That sounds like a good description of the difference between two dominant groups in modern day culture.

And that is why I like Heidegger. He has the power to go from the most abstract and genealogical way of thinking right to the point of how we think today. The question - What is - philosophy? can only be answered when we know our pathos. show less

Heidegger is like Noam Chomsky, in that he should be read regularly in order to refresh your capacity for critical and reflective thought.

This particular edition is translated by Jean T. Wilde and William Kluback, and includes the German (and Greek/Latin/French) original on the left hand side, and the English translation on the right. Without presuming to be competent to judge the quality of the translation, the terminology seems to be generally in line with what I've read elsewhere, though the Greek thaumazein is translated by 'astonishment' rather than the more common (in my readings) 'wonder'.

My other quibble with the translation is that the German title "Was ist das--die Philosophie?" is not adequately translated by "What is show more philosophy" as the former seeks to explicitly convey a focus on the way the question is framed--i.e., in the Greek manner of "what is that which we call a tree?"

I found footnote 3 in the introduction, which begins "Heidegger's interpretation of Plato and Aristotle implies a misunderstanding of the position of both," to be out of place and even a bit uppity. Without suggesting that Heidegger is beyond criticism (obviously not the case), to throw in a little jab in an otherwise exclusively expository introduction struck me as peevish, disrespectful to Heidegger's endeavour, and even revealing of a fundamental misunderstanding of what Heidegger is up to.

That said, I believe the idea that the "being-moved" that Heidegger analyzes in relation to what the question of "what is philosophy?" does to us has "nothing whatsoever to do with that which is usually called feelings and emotions" (p. 27) is junk. show less

2/28/22