Martin Heidegger

German philosopher who developed phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism, and whose work was shaped by his controversial Nazi involvement.

Martin Heidegger was born on 26 September 1889 in rural Meßkirch, Baden, to a poor Catholic family.^[1][2] He is widely considered one of the most significant modern philosophers, known for his magnum opus Being and Time (1927).^[3] His legacy is complicated by his involvement with Nazism, including membership in the Nazi Party from 1933 to 1945.^[4]

Quick Facts

Region

Western philosophy

Era

20th-century philosophy

Born

26 September 1889

Birthplace

Meßkirch, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire

Died

26 May 1976

Place of death

Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany

Institutions

University of Marburg; University of Freiburg

School of thought

Continental philosophy
Existentialism
Hermeneutics
Phenomenology

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He graduated with a thesis on psychologism in 1914 and completed his habilitation on Duns Scotus the following year.^[5] He published Being and Time in 1927, which raised him to international intellectual visibility.^[6] He succeeded Husserl as professor at Freiburg in 1928 and gave his inaugural lecture "What is Metaphysics?" in 1929.^[1] In 1903, a church scholarship enabled Heidegger to begin his path toward the priesthood, and six years later he entered a Jesuit seminary, though a heart condition led to his dismissal within a few weeks.^[7]

By 1911, Heidegger had abandoned his religious training and shifted his focus to contemporary philosophy, especially the work of Edmund Husserl.^[5] Between 1919 and 1923, Heidegger served as a lecturer at the University of Freiburg while also working as an assistant to Husserl.^[8] On 21 April 1933, Heidegger was chosen as rector of the university, and he became a member of the Nazi Party on 1 May of that same year.^[9] Heidegger passed away in his sleep on 26 May 1976 at age 86 in Freiburg, and his burial took place in Meßkirch.^[10][11]

What the cited sources add

The Philosophy Now account by MacFarlane notes that Heidegger decisively broke from Cartesianism, seeing cognition as based on bodily immersion in the world.^[2] MacFarlane also states that Heidegger married Elfride Petri, a Protestant, in 1917 and had two sons.^[2] The University Library Freiburg record lists key dates including his 1946 teaching ban by the occupation authorities and his 1951 emeritus status.^[11] The same source reports that Heidegger's gravestone is inscribed with a single star, referencing a line he wrote in 1947.^[2][10]

References

Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Inwood 2019, p. chapter 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
MacFarlane, "Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)", Philosophy Now, 2013. facts only, no text reused. philosophynow.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Blackburn, "Heidegger, Martin (1889–1976): German existentialist and social critic", Oxford University Press, 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wolin 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alfieri 2015; Inwood 2019, p. chapter 1; Luft 2015; Worldcat website Retrieved 27 November 2023. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Inwood 2019, p. chapter 1; Wheeler 2020, p. §1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Richardson 1963; Inwood 2019, p. chapter 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McCormick, S., The Chattering Mind: A Conceptual History of Everyday Talk (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2020), p. 124.; Inwood 2019, p. chapter 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bambach 2003; Inwood 2019, p. chapter 1; Hemming 2013, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fjC-hf2kFsIC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA140&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false chapter 7]; Farin 2016; Knowles, "Heidegger's fascist affinities: a politics of silence", Stanford University Press, 2019; Sheehan 1988 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Martin Heidegger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacFarlane, "Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)", Philosophy Now, 2013; MacFarlane, "Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)", Philosophy Now, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
"Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) - Universitätbibliothek Freiburg", University Library Freiburg. facts only, no text reused. ub.uni-freiburg.de

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Martin Heidegger (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.