Heidegger and the Jews: The Black Notebooks

Philosophers have debated Martin Heidegger's involvement in Nazism due to the publication of his Black Notebooks, which reveal his anti-Semitism. Donatella Di Cesare argues that his metaphysical anti-Semitism was a central part of his philosophical project, seeing the Jews as the agents of a modernity that had disfigured the spirit of the West. Heidegger presented the Holocaust as a means for the purification of Being and the Jews' self-destruction. This groundbreaking work is essential reading for students and scholars of philosophy, history, and Heidegger's life, work, and legacy.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 10 July 2018
Publisher: Polity Press

Philosophers have grappled with the paradox of Martin Heidegger's involvement in Nazism and his esteemed status as one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. The recent publication of his Black Notebooks has sparked a heated debate on the matter. These thousand-odd pages of jotted observations challenge our perception of the quiet philosopher's exile in the Black Forest, unveiling the shocking extent of his anti-Semitism for the first time.

For many in the philosophical community, the Black Notebooks have served as either a tool to discredit Heidegger or as a mere bibliographical detail, irrelevant to his thought. However, in this groundbreaking book, renowned philosopher Donatella Di Cesare makes a compelling argument that Heidegger's metaphysical anti-Semitism played a central role in his philosophical project.

In the context of the Nuremberg race laws, Heidegger felt compelled to define Jewishness and its relationship to his concept of Being. Di Cesare demonstrates that Heidegger viewed the Jews as the agents of a modernity that had distorted the essence of the West. In a disturbingly extrapolated passage, he portrayed the Holocaust as both a means for the purification of Being and the Jews' self-destruction: a process of death on an industrialized scale that was the logical culmination of the technological acceleration they had brought about.

By situating Heidegger's anti-Semitism within the broader context of his thought, this groundbreaking work becomes essential reading for students and scholars of philosophy, history, and those interested in Heidegger's life, work, and legacy. It sheds light on the complexities of his thought and challenges us to reassess his place in the history of philosophy.

Weight: 494g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509503834