Heidegger

> THIS LIST seems to be just a conversation between a few folks, and every
> time that I try to post I get some lame reply that the “moderator” needs
> to approve something or another… (and my words never seem to appear).

Well, that’s how internet discussions list are, in general. Not many people
feel they have something to say to the list, and they just read what others
post.

When I became a member of some Yahoo Heidegger discussion list, I was just a
reader of people’s messages, and seeking who is the best thinker about
Heidegger, and the thinking that if I find him/her I should follow him/her.

Soon I realized that no poster wrote something that I would wholeheartedly
follow, so I got dissatisfied with following such discussion and then I
began to write my own messages to the list, in order to fill what I
considered it was missing from it.

There were some intelligent people there, like (but not limited to) Anthony
Crifasi (who generally pointed you that you’re making some logic error in
interpreting and applying Heidegger’s concepts), Michael Eldred (who has his
own system derived from Heidegger and Marx, so he was offering you something
original), and the best Heidegger interpreter there was according to me some
guy who wrote as Faustus and Virgilius Haufniensis (which I could not follow
for he was a Devil worshipper).

I was thumping some Bible verses there and some insights from spiritual
masters, together with some Heidegger quotes, but I don’t know how many
people actually like that, since Heidegger said that there’s no point in
mixing a positive science (theology) with philosophy (which does not posit
anything). And, otherwise, many academics think that Krishnamurti and Rudolf
Steiner have the credibility of 1-900-PSYCHIC or so.

Later I got tired with seeking quotes from Heidegger in order to fight what
seemed to me misinterpretations of his work, because I realized that his
writings are somehow doomed to be misinterpreted - well, if somebody
understood Heidegger, he was certainly not a “French Heideggerian” (as the
group called itself then) - with the exception of Jean Beaufret.

Now, maybe I was too harsh on Osho, he is fun to read and gives you the
feeling of a caring, concerned and lively writing (or speech, since his
books are mostly transcripts of his speeches). I also learnt from him the
metaphor of drop and the ocean (i.e. human and God), which my guru presented
it about the same time in more detail. Well, I guess that neither the
previous nor the former were original in using this metaphor, but it was
instructive to read about it in Osho’s books.

Besides, during my philosophy study, I think I read more New Age philosophy
than mainstream philosophy. Rudolf Steiner gave me enough ammo to understand
what was going on in philosophical debate till the beginning of 20th
century. A Romanian philosopher, Constantin Noica, said that if you don’t
encounter culture armed with an idea, you’re doomed. So, Steiner gave me
that guiding idea, and I later replaced him with Jung and Heidegger.

Steiner was very fond of Plato, and he gave me the same feelings about
Plato, feelings which I still have. Generally, I came to consider, just as
Whitehead, that philosophy is a kind of footnotes to Plato. Unlike him, I
considered that Heidegger corrected Plato’s mistakes (which I considered
were mostly due to imperfect transmission of information, inaccurate
translations and so on).

Steiner also tried to improve Platonism, and if we take the German Idealism
seriously, then we should read Steiner’s philosophical books — he wrote
philosophy as strictly and as rigorously as any great philosopher. But, he
did not produce many philosophical books and he decided it is more
interesting to speak about his visions as a clairvoyant. That he did,
without forgetting to give due warning to his readers that thinking is the
foremost spiritual activity, and clairvoyance can only come on a second
place in respect to thinking. Generally, he considered that those who know
how to think should not bother with obtaining clairvoyance.

Tudor

Posted on Thursday, August 24th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
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