6 thoughtful quotes from Heidegger

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Martin Heidegger became famous for his outstanding philosophical research. His works found their weighty response not only in philosophy, but also in sociology. While his convictions, especially support for the fascist regime, cast a dark spot on the personality of the thinker. His creations of thought made an undeniable contribution to the development of philosophy in general and existentialism in particular. Philosophical works and quotations of Heidegger in German spread so much that they were painstakingly translated into almost all languages of the world. One way or another, the thinker's sayings aroused the interest of philosophers around the world.

Let's look at a few aphorisms and quotes from Martin Heidegger, which will only superficially acquaint us with his fundamental ideas.

Real Life Consciousness

Few people are now surprised by the fact of their existence, taking it rather for granted. Onlysome think about the world and people around. Everyday worries often leave us no room for maneuver and successfully immerse us in their own hectic world.

Martin Heidegger was distasteful of large cities, and he looked doubtfully at the growing day by day industrialization. He believed that behind a screen of convenience and technology, we closed life itself from our own eyes. Life in its original and sincere sense. We feel how the heart drives the blood through the veins, but we are not aware of the most amazing fact of our existence. So, according to Heidegger, we don't really live.

Today knowledge of anything and everything is available so quickly and cheaply that in the next moment what is obtained just as hastily and is forgotten

This quote from Heidegger neatly exposes the problem of the excessive abundance of our time. The philosopher thought so during his life, but if he saw the availability of information now, he would not even be able to find the right words. Indeed, now almost any information is available from us in a second. And in this case, it should seem obvious that we simply have to be the most advanced generation. However, finding the right frequency in the ocean of information interference is not an easy task.

Only jumping into the river will tell us what swimming is

This quote perfectly reflects the mainstream of Heidegger's philosophy. He has always been a supporter of the practical application of thought. His most important thoughts are alwaysshould be backed up by practice. After all, if a beautiful thought cannot be applied in life itself, then, according to the philosopher, all its uselessness and limitations are revealed in it.

Man is not the master of existence, man is the shepherd of being

One of the central ideas of Martin Heidegger's teaching is being. He contrasted his beliefs about being with all Western philosophy up to the teachings of Plato. He, for example, rejected the early doctrine of object and subject. Heidegger believed that the statement that a person is inside being is fundamentally wrong. In his opinion, an incorrect interpretation of many phenomena comes from this erroneous fact. True, he believed that human existence is being in itself.

The essence of man rests in his existence

In this quote by Heidegger one can find a continuation of the previous thought. Existence is understood as the existence of a person's personality in a broad sense: self-consciousness, actions, emotions and cognition. And since being is the very existence of a person, it means that the whole human essence lies only in the very fact of finding a person in space.

We often forget that a thinker is essentially more effective where he is refuted than where he is accepted

This quote from the philosopher Martin Heidegger shows his penchant for practical thought. He seems to be advising us to startdoubt absolutely everything. But to doubt not for the purpose of rejection, but with the realization that it is under the blows of criticism that a really strong thought is tempered. If we silently nod our heads and skip the initial "cast" of the idea with all its holes and sharp corners, then we will pave the way into a blank wall for those who decide to build on this almost finished substance in their conclusions.

All paths of thought, more or less tangibly, lead mysteriously through language

And in this Heidegger quote we clearly see one of his main priorities - the language of presentation. He did not seek to make it as simple as possible, he strove for accuracy. That is why his style, although quite difficult to understand, nevertheless most accurately reflects the thoughts of the author.

Of course, this priority is highly questionable. Someone might say that it would be better to write as simply as possible, avoiding unnecessary details. Well, this is a personal matter for everyone. Martin Heidegger chose precision as his starting point. But, however, we can say for sure that his style is much easier to understand than the style of the same Georg Hegel.