Heidegger and the Myth of a Jewish World Conspiracy

by Peter Trawny, Andrew J. Mitchell (Translator)

In 2014, the first three volumes of Heidegger’s Black Notebooks—the personal and philosophical notebooks that he kept during the war years—were published in Germany. These notebooks provide the first textual evidence of anti-Semitism in Heidegger’s philosophy, not simply in passing remarks, but as incorporated into his philosophical and political thinking itself. In Heidegger and the Myth of a Jewish World Conspiracy, Peter Trawny, the editor of those notebooks, offers the first evaluation of Heidegger’s philosophical project in light of the Black Notebooks.
           
While Heidegger’s affiliation with National Socialism is well known, the anti-Semitic dimension of that engagement could not be fully told until now. Trawny traces Heidegger’s development of a grand “narrative” of the history of being, the “being-historical thinking” at the center of Heidegger’s work after Being and Time. Two of the protagonists of this narrative are well known to Heidegger’s readers: the Greeks and the Germans. The world-historical antagonist of this narrative, however, has remained hitherto undisclosed: the Jews, or, more specifically, “world Judaism.” As Trawny shows, world Judaism emerges as a racialized, destructive, and technological threat to the German homeland, indeed, to any homeland whatsoever. Trawny pinpoints recurrent, anti-Semitic themes in the Notebooks, including Heidegger’s adoption of crude cultural stereotypes, his assigning of racial reasons to philosophical decisions (even undermining his Jewish teacher, Edmund Husserl), his endorsement of a Jewish “world conspiracy,” and his first published remarks on the extermination camps and gas chambers (under the troubling aegis of a Jewish “self-annihilation”). Trawny concludes with a thoughtful meditation on how Heidegger’s achievements might still be valued despite these horrifying facets. Unflinching and systematic, this is one of the most important assessments of one of the most important philosophers in our history.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Tijmen Lansdaal · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it comes to Trawny and other Heideggerians, his milkshake does bring all the boys to the yard. All Heideggerian sophists squirm in the face of Trawny, relapsing into altogether much too crude, coarse and commonplace thinking. Trawny's work is seriously challenging and easily misunderstood. Much to my surprise, he offers much more arguments against the presence of any viable conception of antisemitism in Heidegger than for. To be clear: I am deeply convinced that he has what you may call a 'hidden agenda', although I am of course of the opinion that this agenda is apparent.

The itinerary of the book is largely unclear and seems associative. It structurally expounds a 'contamination' in Heidegger's thought - a concept that he admits is Heideggerian (I was thinking more Derridean, but whatever). As Trawny explicitly states, one cannot really think through the consequences of this contamination. Ultimately, one must rather attempt the thought of the problem itself and determine how to understand it. Thinking is mutilated by Heidegger. Thinking must bear its proper pain, having been lead astray by Heidegger. Such consistent appeals are entirely consonant with Heidegger's appeal to the thought of Being. The idea that Heidegger reminds us of the darkest pages of our history and we could be thankful for it - is this not the gist of Trawny's essay? Is it not now that we can finally carry the weight of being a German on our shoulders, or that we can start 'trusting the trail of tears' (Celan [so yeah, not the 'Trail of Tears' - sorry])? Unlike the often very complex rhetorical questions posed in Trawny's book, which allow him to avoid drawing any conclusions or condemnations, mine one should simply answer with 'yes'.

It strikes me that at the very least profound irony befalls this whole discussion. Surely, one could ponder the question of Heidegger's nazism long and hard, but perhaps that's altogether not as urgent as Trawny makes it out to be. Trawny's work is not coincidentally 'contaminated'; its train of thought forcefully moves within the Heideggerian framework, further mythologizing it. Let me guess: only in the vicinity of the ultimate obscurity of this problem can a secret become pertinent for us all, and will we be at the height of our thinking? What about all the other worries mankind has?

As part Heidegger enthousiast, I can imagine this to be a pretty profound and touching narrative for most. Peter Trawny is a brave and erudite man and I regret that he's become such a controversial figure (among people he should be getting respect from). But as so much more than part Heidegger enthousiast, I can only giggle at the reception this is getting and shake my head at the often confusing state of philosophical discourse.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8?? An sich ein schlüssiges Werk, welches sehr interessante Parallelen und Bezugspunkte in der Argumentation herstellt. Aber Trawny scheut sich vollends, Heidegger Antisemitismus zuzuschreiben. Manchmal finden sich auch komische Formulierungen im Text...Aber an sich ein sehr guter Einstieg in das Thema.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, as far as it goes.