Synopses & Reviews
Although Martin Heidegger is nearly as notorious as Friedrich Nietzsche for embracing the death of God, the philosopher himself acknowledged that Christianity accompanied him at every stage of his career. In
Heidegger's Confessions, Ryan Coyne isolates a crucially important player in this story: Saint Augustine. Uncovering the significance of Saint Augustine in Heideggers philosophy, he details the complex and conflicted ways in which Heidegger paradoxically sought to define himself against the Christian tradition while at the same time making use of its resources.
Coyne first examines the role of Augustine in Heideggers early period and the development of his magnum opus, Being and Time. He then goes on to show that Heidegger owed an abiding debt to Augustine even following his own rise as a secular philosopher, tracing his early encounters with theological texts through to his late thoughts and writings. Bringing a fresh and unexpected perspective to bear on Heideggers profoundly influential critique of modern metaphysics, Coyne traces a larger lineage between religious and theological discourse and continental philosophy.
Review
"... Crowe contributes to the literature on Heidegger's connection with Christianity, especially with regard to Heidegger's early theological training and convictions.... Clearly written and thorough in its exegesis of early Heidegger..." --Religious Studies Review
Review
"... A fine book that sheds new light on the indebtedness of Heidegger to theology --i.e. to Protestant theology rather than to his own Catholic background." --International Review of Biblical Studies Indiana University Press
Review
“Heidegger’s Confessions traces the role of Augustine across Heidegger’s thinking—early, middle, and late—to convincingly show that Augustine is not only a constant companion but an inspiration for Heidegger’s own transformations throughout his career.”
Review
“Coyne’s careful reconstruction and analysis of Heidegger’s other ‘hidden debt’ provides us with much-needed background of the latter’s lifelong fascination with the author of the
Confessions, just as it offers suggestive hypotheses to assess its overall ‘counterintuitive’ meaning and current import. Even where the later Heidegger’s
Kehre turned further away from the religion of old, Coyne wisely suggests that Heidegger’s ulterior ‘deep inquiry’ into the existence and essence of man nonetheless redraws a ‘silhouette reflected darkly’ in Augustine’s most profound pages. Rare are the books that complete an emerging, complex picture in full philological and genealogical detail and also succeed in bringing systematic philosophical problems—here: that of the relationship between phenomenology and theology, existential or fundamental ontology and Christianity—into much clearer focus. Coyne has set the future debates concerning the legacy of Heidegger and all those he influenced in these matters on much firmer footing, while giving a truly original account of the decisive contribution that Christian tropes brought and continue to bring to bear on the critique of ancient and modern metaphysics.”
Review
“Heidegger’s Confessions explores major currents in Heidegger by taking his readings of Augustine as a guiding thread. Coyne shows that Heidegger’s occasional interpretations of Augustinian texts are not incidental to his thought, but are linked explicitly and implicitly to major questions in his philosophy—such as whether human beings can know themselves, possess themselves, and be whole. Heidegger’s engagement with Augustine also bears on broader questions about Being and its relation to God. Coyne’s approach goes well beyond a simple genealogical argument about how Heidegger was ‘influenced’ by Augustine, or a simple comparative study that tallies up agreements and disagreements between two thinkers. Instead, Coyne interrogates the very nature of influence, debt, and attestation, showing that Augustinian concerns are relevant not only to the relation between these two figures but to how philosophers cite their predecessors, how they relate to their own past thoughts, how philosophy tries to establish its own integrity, and how philosophy may remain beholden to theology at the same time that it combats it.”
Synopsis
In Heidegger's Religious Origins, Benjamin D. Crowe explores the meaning and relevance of Heidegger's early theological development, especially his intellectual ties with Martin Luther. Devoting particular attention to Heidegger's philosophy of religion in the turbulent aftermath of World War I, Crowe shows Heidegger tightening his focus and searching his philosophical practice for ideas on how one cultivates an "authentic" life beyond the "destruction" of Europe. This penetrating work reveals Heidegger wrestling and coming to grips with his religious upbringing, his theological education, and his religious convictions. While developing Heidegger's notion of destruction up to the publication of Being and Time, Crowe advances a new way to think about the relationship between destruction and authenticity that confirms the continuing importance of Heidegger's early theological training.
Synopsis
Heideggers Confessions is a sustained exploration of the influence of the figure of Saint Augustine on Heideggers thinking. Drawing from Heideggers early and later writings, it examines in-depth the use Heidegger made of Augustinian conceptswhat they contributed to his philosophical formation, the tensions they generated in his work, how they subtly resurfaced in his later works; the often unapparent ways in which Heidegger dealt with their recurrence; and finally, what these recurrences tell us about his critique of modern metaphysics. The often surprising ways in which Heidegger made subtle, yet sophisticated use of Augustine invites reflection on current ways of construing the relationship between philosophy and religion. Heideggers Confessions thus ends by offering a fresh perspective on the interdisciplinary character of the philosophy of religion in its contemporary continental context.
About the Author
Ryan Coyne is assistant professor of the philosophy of religions and theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Heidegger’s Paul
Chapter 2: The Cogito Out-of-Reach
Chapter 3: The Remains of Christian Theology
Chapter 4: Testimony and the Irretrievable in Being and Time
Chapter 5: Temporality and Transformation, or Augustine through the Turn
Chapter 6: On Retraction
Conclusion: Difference and De-Theologization
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index