Richard Wolin Knihy

Seinsgeschick as a Strategy of Denial -- A Philosophy of Heteronomy -- The "Leveling Gaze" of Heidegger's Later Philosophy -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

"Not the least of Martin Heidegger's contributions to twentieth-century thought was his ability to inspire gifted disciples who read him against the grain, producing political theories very different from the ideology endorsed by the master, to his eternal disgrace, in l933. Looking closely at four of the most talented of their number, Richard Wolin, with the provocative directness his readers have come to expect, argues that troubling residues remain not far beneath the surface of their influential work. "Heidegger's Children" is a book that many will seek to refute, but none can ignore."--Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley "This is an exceedingly important book that goes right to the core of debates about modernity and the human condition. It is both timely and enduringly important. It is also engrossing--provocative in some places, deeply insightful in others. More than a significant contribution to the field, it constitutes a new field in its own right. Wolin has defined a philosophical Pandora's box, and his interpretation is going to initiate some agonized soul-searching."--Michael Ermarth, Dartmouth College

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Ever since the shocking revelations of the fascist ties of Martin Heidegger and Paul de Man, postmodernism has been haunted by the specter of a compromised past. In this intellectual genealogy of the postmodern spirit, Richard Wolin shows that postmodernism’s infatuation with fascism has been extensive and widespread. He questions postmodernism’s claim to have inherited the mantle of the Left, suggesting instead that it has long been enamored with the opposite end of the political spectrum. Wolin reveals how, during in the 1930s, C. G. Jung, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Georges Bataille, and Maurice Blanchot were seduced by fascism's promise of political regeneration and how this misapprehension affected the intellectual core of their work. The result is a compelling and unsettling reinterpretation of the history of modern thought. In a new preface, Wolin revisits this illiberal intellectual lineage in light of the contemporary resurgence of political authoritarianism.

Few twentieth-century thinkers have proven as influential as Walter Benjamin, the German-Jewish philosopher and cultural and literary critic. Richard Wolin's book remains among the clearest and most insightful introductions to Benjamin's writings, offering a philosophically rich exposition of his complex relationship to Adorno, Brecht, Jewish Messianism, and Western Marxism. Wolin provides nuanced interpretations of Benjamin's widely studied writings on Baudelaire, historiography, and art in the age of mechanical reproduction. In a new Introduction written especially for this edition, Wolin discusses the unfinished Arcades Project , as well as recent tendencies in the reception of Benjamin's work and the relevance of his ideas to contemporary debates about modernity and postmodernity.

The Wind From the East must be regarded as a monument of committed scholarship. It is also a fascinating chronicle of people who, however ludicrous they may seem at times, did on occasion think and act with profound seriousness. For that reason the book is a valuable addition to the literature of the era.--David Gress, Wall Street Journal

What does it mean when a radical understanding of National Socialism is inextricably embedded in the work of the twentieth century's most important philosopher?

Ausgangspunkt dieser Untersuchung ist die Frage, inwieweit Heideggers politisches Handeln in seinem philosophischen Denken begründet ist. Entlang einer genauen Lektüre von Sein und Zeit entwickelt Wolin die Auffassung, dass Heideggers „Entscheidung“ für den Nationalsozialismus nicht getrennt von den grundlegenden Bedingungen seines philosophischen Denkens verstanden werden könne, sondern dass sie ihre Wurzeln innerhalb dieses Denkens habe. Außerdem gelangt Wolin zu der These, dass Heideggers politische Kompromittierung ihrerseits Spuren in seinen späteren Werken hinterlasse. Deshalb müssten die zentralen Themen des Heideggerschen Denkens, wie die quasi-apokalyptische Anklage von Humanismus, Technologie und europäischem Nihilismus, in einem gewissen Maße als eine Form der Selbstkritik verstanden werden. Wolin zeigt somit, dass das politische Handeln Heideggers unweigerlich gewisse grundlegende Züge seines philosophischen Projektes disqualifziert, warnt jedoch gleichzeitig davor, dieses Handeln als Vorwand zu benutzen, seine Philosophie im Ganzen zu diskreditieren.