Latvijas Universitāte

Vēstures un filozofijas fakultāte

Filozofijas vēstures katedra

Raivis Bičevskis

Patiesība un fakticitāte.

Martīna Heidegera agrīnie filozofiskie meklējumi

Promocijas darba kopsavilkums.

Promocijas darbs izstrādāts filozofijas nozarē,

filozofijas vēstures apakšnozarē.

Truth and facticity

Martin Heidegger's early philosophical

quest

Summary

2005

Truth and facticity

Martin Heidegger's early philosophical quest, 1909-1923

Summary

I Theme of the work

I1.The place and significance of the work in the contemporary philosophy

Reflections of German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) have left the lasting imprint upon vision of history of the European thought and European future within contemporary philosophy, theology and other realms of sciences. Hedegger emphasized that the central question of his philosophical quest was the question on being. The words included in the title of the promotion work "Truth and facticity" designate basic problems Heidegger mostly paid attention to in his early approaching the question on being. This approaching and the most significant milestones are in the center of attention of the promotion work.

The results of the long way of the formation of understanding the strivings and preconditions of underststanding the German thinker at the turn of the 20th/21st centuries demonstrate that the question on being indeed form the essential point that unites Hedegger's reflections on different stages of his philosophical quest. However, it should be noted that this question in Hedegger's relentless quest in within time period of several decades has its own history. Understanding of the central question of Martin Hedegger's reflections largely depends on understanding of history and its appropriate evaluation. It becomes more and more evident that Heidegger's way, his quest, the historical constellation of problems, and complexity of the fate of metaphysical tradition most essentially pertain the question put forward by the German philosopher. This opinion prompts the view that the history of Heidegger's question on being is not only the history of creation of his large format work of the 20-ies "Being and Time" (1927). It should be clearly understood that it is the whole history of intention to ask the question on being

and time. Thus the early Martin Heidegger's first independent steps in research, the beginning of the way of the German thinker regain their significance.77

It should be admitted that disclosing this beginning we are talking not only about singular, though prominent thinker's philosophical quest. Reflections on the early period of M. Hedegger's philosophy show that it is impossible without deep analysis of the European philosophical trends of the turn of the 19th/20th centuries and of the first half of the 20 century. Taking into account Hedegger's level of the problem perception, it has to be said that the disclosure of beginning is impossible without reflections upon the historical fate of the European philosophically theological tradition, metaphysics, ontology and gnoseology. Only grasping the indeed unique vision arising in the German philosopher's quest within long-term historical context, it will be possible to ask what new accents (comparing with the historical tradition) could be found in his heritage. Questions posed in Martin Heidegger's philosophy already in its early period, hasnt still lost their actuality. It should be admitted that the way the German philosopher's thought thematizes actual philosophical problems of the first half of the 20 century (meaning, truth, knowing, transcendental philosophy, ontology, and others) appears to be very fruitful because it voices the long tradition of the European metaphysics. This kind of approach regards philosophy and theology as a whole, and it opens up the possibility to disclose the determinative basic features of the European thought and life forms. Hence the reflection upon the early Heidegger's philosophy is not task only for the history of

76The generally adopted division in interpretations of M. Heidegger's philosophical quest ("young
Heidegger" - till 1919; "early Heidegger" - from 1919 till 1929; "late Heidegger" - the 30-ies, 40-ies and
the beginning of the 50-ies; "old Heidegger" - from the of the 50-ies till his death in 1976) is not always
observed consistently. Compare Theodore Kisiel, The Genesis of Heidegger's Being and Time.
Berkley/London, 1993. P. XIII. John van Buren, The Young Heidegger. Rumor of the Hidden King.
Bloomington/Indianapolis, 1994. P. 3-27. Georg Imdahl, Das Leben verstehen. Heideggers formal
anzeigende Hermeneutik in den fruhen Freiburger Vorlesungen. Wurzburg, 1997. S. 13 ff. The denotation
"early Heidegger" used in the dissertation pertains to the time from the first Heidegger's articles till the end
of his first Freiburg period (1929) - the period that can be clearly separated from the further phases in
development of the German thinker's reflections. This division is not systematic in its nature - the task of
the promotion work is to show specifically the continuity of Heidegger's quest. The question is rather about
the time of his maturation, to be followed by further development of his views. The designation "early
Freiburg lectures" pertains to Heeidegger's lectures in Freiburg (1928-1944). The "Marburg lectures" cover
the time period from 1923 till 1928.

77At present in Germany there are several comprehensive Heidegger's research projects "Heidegger and
Christianity", "Heidegger and Medieval Scholastics", Heidegger and Nietzsche", "Heidegger's
interpretation of the history of being and the history of philosophy", and others that analyze early
Heidegger's views within broad context of the European culture.

philosophy, but the urgent and actual task for the philosophical comprehension of the contemporary European thinking, existential possibilities and future perspectives.

In the beginning of the 21st century there is possibility to form the foreseeable, historically and systematically justified vision of early Heidegger's works. In the philosophical literature of Western Europe devoted to Heidegger's philosophy interpretations enough work has been done to gather and evaluate testimonies necessary for this kind of approach. Within collection of Heidegger's works Gesamtausgabe78in 2000 there were included Heidegger's first articles 79 (see the chapter I B 1 of the promotion work). Another collection of first articles, his dissertation and the habilitation work are known from the edition of Heidegger's "Early Articles" (1974), that presently can be found in the 1st volume of Gesamtausgabe80(see the chapters I B 1, and I B 2 of the promotion work). Now they can be supplemented by Heidegger's reports in Heinrich Rickert's seminars and by the letters to Rickert81 (see the chapter I B 1 of the promotion work). Also his letters to the medievalist Martin Grabmann, Heidegger's friend and colleague, the catholic priest and theologian Engelbert Krebs82 are testimonies on Heidegger's reflections of this period. A part of early letters (unhappily they are not fully

78Martin Heidegger, Gesamtausgabe. Ausgabe letzter Hand. Hrsg. von Wilhelm-Friedrich von hermann u.a. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1975 ff. I Abteilung: Veröffentlichte Schriften 1910-1976. II Abteilung: Vorlesungen 1919-1944. III Abteilung: Unveröffentlichte Abhandlungen - Vorträge -Gedachtes. IV Abteilung: Hinweise und Aufzeichnungen. The publishing of Gesamtausgabe was begun while Heidegger was stiil alive (1975). The presently planned 102-volume edition wouldn't be possible without participation of the widw ränge of scholars (see Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Ausgabe letzter Hand. Veralgsprospekt Vittorio Klostermann Frankfurt am Main. Stand 2003. S. 7-24.) . However, Wilhelm Hermann and Hartmut Tietjen should be especially credited for their work in publishing the heritage left by Heidegger.

See HGA I, Bd. 16. Though, the scholars can still find other works in the catholic newspapers and yearbooks of the beginning of the century. However for a long time period out of the field of attention there were left reports on the catholic meetings held Messkirch published in the "Heiberg People Newspaper" in 1910-1913. Heidegger delivered his reports in the meetings. Here it is possible to find (though indirect) additions to Heidegger's first articles and reviews. See Alfred Denker, Herr Studiosus Heidegger un seine Heimatstadt Messkirch. Bausteine zu Heideggers Biographie. Izd.: Messkircher Heimathefte Nr. 7, 2000. 80 See HGA I, Bd. 1.

81See Martin Heidegger/Heinirch Rickert, Briefe 1912 bis 1933 und andere Dokumente. Aus den
Nachlässen herausgegeben von Alfred Denker. Frankfurt am Main, 2002.

82See Briefan Engelbert Krebs 19. 7. 1914 // Hugo Ott, Martin Heidegger. Unterwegs zu seiner Biographie.
S. 83. Brief an Engelbert Krebs 9. 1. 1919. // Bernhard Casper, Martin Heidegger un die Theologische
Fakultät Freiburg 1909-1923.Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv 100 (1980). S. 541. Brief an Martin Grabmann //
Herman Köstler, Heidegger schreibt an Grabmann. (PhJb 87 (1980)). S. 98-104. In the context of
development of the Heidegger's views it is interesting to compare them with his letter to Josef Sauer (1912)
(see Brief an Jose Sauer // Hugo Ott, Martin Heidegger. Unterwegs zu seiner Biographie. S. 73-73.) and the
later letter to Karl Löwith. Hrsg. von Hartmut Tietjen. Izd.: Zurphilosophichen Aktualität Heideggers.
Hrsg. von D. Papenfuss und O. Pöggeler. Bd. 2. Frankfurt am Main, 1990. S. 27-39.).

preserved) to the catholic theologians and scholars Heinrich Finke, Josef Sauer, Ernst Laslowski, Engelbert Krebs, and others is published in the 1st volume of the "Heidegger's Yearbook" in the second half of 2004.

It seems that Heidegger's lectures of 1916-1917 should be regarded as lost and non-restorable.83 The most significant documents of the "transition period" (1917-1918) are sketches "Philosophical Grounds of Medieval Mysticism"84 (see the chapter I C 2 of the promotion work), as well as his letter to Edmund Husserl and Elisabeth Blochmann.85 It is followed by the complete collection of the early lectures from 1919-192386 (see the chapters II A 1 - II C 3 of the promotion work). It undoubtedly is the most significant corpus that (supplemented with corrections and amendments, also with letters to Karl Jaspers and the notable review of Jaspers's "Psychologies of the worldviews" (1919/1921)87 (see the chapter II A 2 of the promotion work) gives the broadest insight into early Heidegger's quest. Several texts of this period (lectures of the summer semester of 1922, the article "Notion of Time")88 are waiting to be published. There have been published also - "Report to Nathorp" (1922), "Kasel Lectures" (1925), the lecture "Notion of Time" (1924) 89 (see the chapter II C 3 of the promotion work), Heidegger's paper in Rudolph Bultmann's seminars "Problem of Sin in Luther's understanding" (1924)90 (see the chapters II C 1 - II C 3 of the promotion work). The last works mentioned pertain already to the beginning of the Marburg years, but systematically they belong to the period of the first stage of Freiburg last years. Soon there will be published the volume of Gesamtausgabe with Heidegger's lectures that will include also lectures

83The list of lectures of these years see Kisiel, Theodore: The Genesis of Heidegger's "Being and Time".
London, 1993. P. 461 ff.

84See HGAII Bd. 60. S. 301-337.

85Briefwechsel Martin Heidegger/Edmund Husserl // Husserliana. Dokumente. Bd. EI Briefwechsel. Teil
VI. Hrsg. von Karl Schuhmann. Dordrecht, 1994. S. 127-161. Briefwechsel Martin Heidegger/Elisabeth
Blochmann 1919-1969. Hrsg. von Joachim W. Storck. Marbacham Neckar, 1990.

86See HGAII, Bd. 56/57. HGAII Bd. 58. HGAII, Bd. 59. HGA II, Bd.60. HGA IL Bd. 61. HGAII, Bd.
63.

87See HGA I, Bd. 9. S. 1-44.

88It is to be included in Gesamtausgabe HGA II, Bd. 62. HGA III, Bd. 64.

89See Phänomenologische Interpretationen zu Aristoteles (Anzeige der hermeneutischen Situation) //
Dilthey-Jarbuch 6 (1989). S. 235-274. Wilhelm Diltheys Forschungsarbeit un der gegenwärtige Kampfun
eine historische Weltanschauung. Idz.: Dilthey-Jarbuch 8 (1993). S. 143-177. Der Begriff der Zeit. Vortrag
vor der Marburger Theologenschaft Juli 1924. Hrsg. von Hartmut Tietjen. Tübingen, 1989.

90See Das Problem der Sünde bei Luther // Sachgemässe Exegese. Die Protokolle aus Rudolf Bultmanns
Neutestamentlichen Seminaren 1921-1951. Hrsg. von Berndt Jasper! Marburg 1996. (Marburger
Theologische Studien, Bd. 43). S. 28 ff.

from the beginning and middle of the twenties91. There should be added several unknown till now testimonies on the early period that are presently available within Gesamtaugabe92In the beginning of 2005 when there the article "Notion of Time" will have been published (see the chapter II C 1 of the promotion work), the lectures "Phenomenological Interpretation of Ontological and Logical Tractates Chosen by Aristotle", as well as the first volume of the "Heidegger's Yearbook" devoted to the early Heidegger (it will unite the known ways of interpretation and, supposedly, it will mark the perspectives for future reflections), it will be possible to say that future task in researching early Heidegger's quest will be not historically philological anymore, but rather philosophically systematic work.

The most significant later Heidegger's works where he casts a look back to his way of philosophical quest are: Heidegger's speech regarding his acceptance in the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences (1957)93, the retrospection "My Way in Phenomenology" (1963)94 and the work published as late as in 1996 "Retrospect on the Way" (1937/1937) that includes the Heidegger's short manuscript "My Way Until Now"95. Comparing them mutually and comparing them with early retrospections, for example, with curriculum vitae96of 1915, Vita (1922)97 it is possibly to see the changes in Heidegger's view on his personal way. This moment could be the reason for not always scrupulous following the path laid out by the self-interpretation of the German philosopher. However, the author of the promotion work supports the opinion that there is no reason for premature dismissal of the perspective marked by Heidegger himself. In retrospections nevertheless there are decisive hints that should be taken into account in historically systematic vision of early Hedegger's reflections.

91See HGAIII, Bd. 80.

92See HGA I, Bd. 16.

93See HGA I, Bd. 1.

94See Zur Sache des Denkens. Tübingen, 1969.

95See HGA III, Bd. 66.

96See HGA I, Bd. 16.

97See HGA I, Bd. 16.

I 2. Theme of the work within context of the philosophical thought in Latvia

The above mentioned considerations pertain also to the significance and place of the theme of the work within context of Latvia. There should be described philosophers whose thinking have left long lasting impression onto European culture in the 20th century and who still influence the fundamental assumptions of the European culture in the beginning of the 21st century. No doubt, Martin Heidegger is one of the most eminent representatives of the European philosophically theological thought. His conceptuality and philosophical language in general that tries to reflect adequately the complex philosophical problems of the 20th century should be included into Latvian language, thus furthering development of the Latvian philosophical terminology and possibilities of the language.

Deep analysis of the formation of Martin Heidegger's views discloses not only the situation of the European philosophical thought in the beginning of the 20th century, but also causes reflection upon the historically long-term transformation of the European thinking that has resulted in the present, the turn of the 20th/21st centuries, situation of the European philosophy and Western culture. Historically long-term transformation of the European thinking pondered in Heidegger's reflections is directly related with the present and future of Latvia. Therefore, the encouragement of understanding of these processes (on different levels of reflection and research) is urgent task for the contemporary philosophy of Latvia.

Deep insight into formation of M. Heidegger's philosophy (trying to avoid simplifications and premature conclusions) prepares also the grounds for proper understanding of the German philosopher's later works, the comprehensive vision of problems of the complex 20th -century European philosophy. Thus the work on the qualitative philosophy and its presentation at the university, as well as on the deep understanding of research tasks is being continued.

II Structure of the work and conclusions

II 1. Layout of the work and content

The promotion work consists of introduction, two parts, divided into 13 chapters, conclusion, bibliography and index of personal names. The subsections of the parts (I-II) are divided into the groups, thematically chronological (I A 1 - I A 2,1 B 1 - I B 2, etc.). The first part of the promotion work marks Martin Heidegger's way from his very first steps in philosophical research until beginning of his academic work at the FreiburgUniversity. The second part turns to the Heidegger's lectures during the first Freiburg stage (1919-1923) and the constellation of the German thinker's reflections prior to the end of the first stage of the Freiburg period and arriving in Marburg.

The chapter I A 1 briefly describes the propellant motifs of the Heidegger's philosophical quest: enduring impressions of his birth place, the "catholic life-world", where the German thinker spends his years until he starts his studies in Freiburg. This "life-world" is described more detailed in the chapter I A 2 "Heidegger and the catholic tradition" on the basis of testimonies on Heidegger's school years, short term Jesus fellowship novitiate, and beginning of his studies. The special attention in this chapter is paid to those sources of philosophically theological tradition, and to those works in philosophy and theology of the 19th/20th century turn and of the 20th century that had left the lasting influence on Heidegger's reflections. The chapter shows the historical situation of the neo-scholastic presentation of the scholastic heritage met by Heidegger in the catholic schools and in the Faculty of Theology of The University of Freiburg (neo-scholasticism, Tubingen catholic theology school (Karl Braig), reform Catholicism (Herman Schell)). The chapter I B 1 analyses Heidegger's first articles published in the German catholic publications from 1910 till 1914. There Heidegger turns against the superficial understanding of the concepts "life", "truth", "personality" and others in the modern culture trends. In the scholastic mystical tradition of the Europe, in the experience of faith he finds another, deeper understanding of personality that centers around the truth and the true life. The source of personality could be revealed in essential reflections about the life's transcendental value (Jenseitswert des Lebens). Heidegger's

first articles demonstrate a wish to find the deepest reasons of relativism and naturalism of the modern philosophy. As the first reason he names the limitless autonomism. However, the autonomism is regarded as the outcome of some deeper development of the European philosophy. Contrary to the autonomy thinking of the modern times Heidegger in his first articles stresses the rich and deep life experience preserved in the tradition. He admits that it is impossible to construe a priori scientifically the fundamental life truth. "Personality" so much praised during the modern times could find its justification only if it remains in close contact with the richer and deeper source of the moral authority, if it remains faithful to the reservoir of the eternal truth in the Church, if it rejects the destructive influence of modernism, that stands in sharp contrast to the ancient wisdom of the Christian tradition.98 It should be stressed that Heidegger here is moved by interest that is much deeper than the theoretical or worldview interest. He doesn't invoke as the final grounds the authority itself, but rather its source, that gives the authority the seal of authority. Experience and authority - this linkage Heidegger wants to emphasize - is the platform from where to turn against the autonomism.