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Books
Heidegger’s Feeble Excuses
John Mann reviews Martin Heidegger: A Political Life by Hugo Ott.
Martin Heidegger was arguably the most important philosopher of the twentieth century. According to this book he was also a devout Nazi who never recanted his evil political beliefs.
During the Second World War Martin Heidegger lived and worked in Germany. There are a number of sympathetic accounts of how he spent his time:
1
The “He Quietly Worked Away at Philosophy” Theory
According to this theory Heidegger ignored the outside world, and continued to do his philosophy, working on ancient Greek thinkers, Holderlin, Nietzsche and so on, until the war was over and he was able to – well, carry on ignoring the outside world and continue with his philosophy!
One little problem with this theory is the fact Heidegger was appointed Rector of the University of Freiberg from 22 April 1933 until he resigned on 23 April 1934; this was a major position in Nazi Germany, and so he cannot have been totally lost to the outside world.
2
The “He Tried to Do Good as a Rector” Theory
According to this theory Heidegger had the Rectorship pushed upon him, and thought he could do some good opposing the Nazis.
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