In-der-Blog-sein

pas au-delà quotes from a Richard Rorty piece on Derrida.

Heidegger had read the history of Western philosophy as a series of increasingly desperate attempts to achieve what Derrida called "a fundamental immobility and a reassuring certitude... beyond the reach of play".

Certainly that strain--that reality is all an unchanging unity--has been there in philosophy since Parmenides, but there are alternative views of Heidegger reading.

Heidegger perceives history as monumental; it is a chain of monuments, deeds performed by people who are heroes of their culture, by philosophers and artists. Their activities disclose Being and make history. They create a world and bequeth it to future generations, who adopt it and protect the revelation of Being. The actions of cultural heroes are neither fully intentional nor conscious. In this vein, we can say, for example, Abraham, in binding Isaac, did not make a concrete decision to bring the Jewish people into existence. Similarly, Jesus did not consciously intend to found a new religion with his actions or of handing down a moral code that would survive for thousands of years. The same is true of all historical characters--thinkers, writers, artists--who, through their actions, created new cultural paradigms that served as historical milestones.

These considerations also apply to traditional metaphysics. Modern subjectivism is not the result of intended and thoughtful action. Even though subjectivism was the by-product of human's effort to emancipate from dogmatic and irrational authority, their will did not have a decisive impact on its creation or on freeing human beings from it effects. This is, rather, the happening of Being.
P. 136

  ¶ 10:01 PM