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Nihilism and Metaphysics in Martin Heidegger's Thought

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Nihilism and Metaphysics in Martin Heidegger's Thought THE GROWING DESERT: NIHILISM AND METAPHYSICS IN MARTIN HEIDEGGER’S THOUGHT A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MUSA DUMAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY MARCH 2009 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof.Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof.Dr. Ahmet İnam Head of Philosophy Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof.Dr. Ahmet İnam Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam (METU, Philosophy) Prof. Dr. Kayhan Mutlu (METU, Sociology) Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Çırakman (METU, Philosophy) Assist. Prof. Dr. Ertuğrul R. Turan (AÜ, Philosophy) Assist. Prof. Dr. Barış Parkan (METU, Philosophy) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Musa Duman Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE GROWING DESERT: NIHILISM AND METAPHYSICS IN HEIDEGGER’S THOUGHT Duman, Musa Ph. D., Department of Philosophy Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam March 2009, 209 pages In this study, we explore Heidegger’s understanding of nihilism as the essential dimension of metaphysics, of metaphysical experience of Being, and in the following, we address his responses to it. Heidegger takes nihilism as rooted in the metaphysical way of thinking, hence metaphysics and nihilism standing in a primordial identity. Such metaphysical way of thinking as a framework in which Being is experinced and articulated, explicitly or implicitly in all areas of Western culture, from art to science, gives us the deep history or movement of Western tradition. Heidegger considers such movement to be presenting an ever growing threat, indeed as something to be consummated in the eeriest possibility of world history, that is, total destruction of human essence as an openness for the disclosure of Being. He points out to this underlying phenomenon with various designations: forgetfullnesss of Being, abandonment of Being, darkening of the world, Gestell and devestation are some of them. In this tradition, Being, from Plato and Aristotle onwards, becomes nothing at all, that is, excluded from any thoughtful consideration, reduced to a mere abstraction. Anything nihilistic, if fully delved into, would prove to conceal at its heart an alienation to the true sense of Being. Therefore, we need to develop a way of thinking outside the dominion of metaphysics, which should not only discover No-thing as the concealment dimension of Being, thus be deeply open to our finitude, but also learn to respond thoughtfully and thankfully to the gift of Being in, through and towards which we ex-sist as human beings. Vis-a-vis the futural potentials of nihilism in this long end of Western history, the futural character of Heidegger’s thinking, his search for a new way of thinking that would incipate the other beginning, harbours a strange tension that is characteristic of his whole philosophy. iv Keywords: Being, No-thing, nihilism, metaphysics, thinking, history of Being, Gestell, forgetfullness of Being, abandonment of Being, the other beginning, human essence. v ÖZ BÜYÜYEN ÇÖL: HEIDEGGER DÜŞÜNCESİNDE NİHİLİZM VE METAFİZİK Duman, Musa Doktora, Felsefe Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam Mart 2009, 209 sayfa Bu çalışmada, Heidegger’in nihilizmi metafiziğin, metafiziksel Varlık deneyiminin, özsel boyutu olarak kavrayışını tetkik ediyor, ve akabinde, bu olguya Heidegger’in ne tür karşılıklar verdiğini ele alıyoruz. Heidegger nihilizmi metafiziksel düşünme biçimi içinde köklenmiş olarak düşünür, bu nedenledir ki metafizik ve nihilizm asli bir özdeşlik arzederler. Çerçevesi içerisinde Varlık’ın, açık veya örtük olarak, sanattan bilime, Batı kültürünün tüm sahalarında, deneyimlenip, ifadelendirildiği bu düşünme biçimi bize Batı geleneğinin derin tarihini ya da hareketini vermektedir. Heidegger bu hareketi giderek büyüyen bir tehdit olarak, gerçekte Batı tarihinin en tekinsiz olanağında, yani Varlık’ın tecellisi için bir açıklık alanı olarak insani özün mutlak imhasında, nihayete varacak bir şey olarak, telakki eder. Heidegger bu altta yatan olguya çeşitli isimlerle işaret eder: Varlık’ın unutulmuşluğu, Varlık’ın terketmişliği, dünyanın karanlıklaşması, Gestell ve mahvoluş bunlardan yalnızca bir kaçıdır. Bu gelenekte Varlık, Platon ve Aristo ile birlikte, bir hiç haline gelmekte, yani, her türlü derinliğine mütalaanın dışında bırakılmakta, sırf bir soyutlamaya indirgenmektedir. Nihilistik olan her şey yeterince derinliğine nüfuz edildiğinde Varlık’ın hakiki manasına bir yabancılaşmayı bağrında barındırdığı ortaya çıkar. Bu nedenle, sadece Hiçliği Varlık’ın gizlenme boyutu olarak keşfetmekle, ve böylece derin bir manada sonluluğumuza açık olmakla, kalmayan, aynı zamanda, içinde, sayesinde ve ona yönelik bir şekilde insan varlıklar olarak varoluş halinde bulunduğumuz Varlık hediyesine mütefekkirane ve müteşekkirane mükabele edecek, metafiziğinin hakimiyet alanı dışında bir düşünme biçimi geliştirmeliyiz. Batı tarihinin bu en uzun son evresinde, Nihilizmin geleceksel potansiyellerine karşılık olarak, Heidegger’in düşüncesinin geleceksel karakteri, O’nun öteki başlangıcı ibda edecek yeni bir düşünme biçimi arayışı, felsefesinin karakteristiği olan tuhaf bir gerilimi içinde saklamaktadır. vi Anahtar kelimeler: Varlık, Hiçlik, nihilizm, metafizik, düşünme, Varlık tarihi, Gestell, Varlığın unutulmuşluğu, Varlığın terketmişliği, öteki başlangıç, insani öz. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to present my special thanks to Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam, my supervisior, for his unfailing interest and support. The staff of philosophy department of METU, in particular Prof. Dr.Yasin Ceylan, Assistant Prof. Elif Çırakman, Assistant Prof. Ayhan Sol and Assoc. Prof. Erdinç Sayan, have all been kindly helpful when I needed their assistance. I am also grateful to my wife, Seher Duman, who thoughtfully endured everything and never ceased to smile. This study owes a lot to Richard Polt who through our e-mail correspondance streching over many years has contributed in a variety of ways to the shaping up of my ideas which found expression in this dissertation. Polt was generous not only in discussing Heidegger with me on many intricate aspects of this philosophy, but also in offering me some of his works and articles. Another important person whom I should express my gratitude is Thomas Sheehan, especially for his sharing with me his long unpublished manuscript “Martin Heidegger” (2004). Steven Crowell deserves a particular mention. His insights communicated via e-mails have proved for me deeply significant in my coming up with such a topic and developing it in fruitful ways. But, of course, responsibility for anything stated in the present study is mine alone. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM . iii ABSTRACT . iv ÖZ . vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . viii TABLE OF CONTENTS . ix ABBREVIATIONS . xi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . .1 2. FORGETFULNESS OF BEING, OF DEATH, AND OF NOTHING: FALLENNESS AND INAUTHENTICITY . .13 3. NOTHING, METAPHYSICS, NIHILISM . 37 4. MOMENTS OF NIHILISM: BETWEEN THE HISTORY OF BEING AND THE OTHER BEGINNING . 59 5. ONTO- THEO-LOGY: THE THEOLOGICAL SOURCES OF NIHILISM . 87 6. NIETZSCHE: FULFILLED NIHILISM . 114 7. MEANING, BEING, GESTELL: THE NIHILISM OF TECHNOLOGY . .144 8. CONCLUSIONS . 169 ix BIBLIOGRAPHY . .176 VITA . 199 APPENDICES . .. 200 Appendix A: Turkish Summary . .. 200 x ABBREVIATIONS Of selected works by Martin Heidegger SZ Sein und Zeit. GA 2 BT Being and Time (translation by Macquarrie & Robinson) GA Gesamtausgabe (1978-), followed by volume and page number BW Basic Writings VA Vorträge und Aufsätze. GA 7 IM Introduction to Metaphysics EM Einführung in die Metaphysik. GA 40 HW Holzwege. GA 5 OBT Off the Beaten Track PM Pathmarks WM Wegmarken. GA 9 BP Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis). GA 65 CP Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning) B Besinnung. GA 66 M Mindfulness MN Metaphysik und Nihilismus. GA 67 N Nietzsche (followed by volume number) DT Discourse on Thinking EGT Early Greek Thinking BQP Basic Questions of Philosophy: Selected Problems of Logic PLT Poetry Language Thought WCT What is Called Thinking? EJ Zur Ernst Jünger. GA 90 EP The End of Philosophy OL On the Way to Langauge HC Heidegger Controversy: A Critical Reader SD Zur Sache des Denkens. GA 14. AM Aristotle’s Metaphysics Θ 1–3: On the Essence and Actuality of Force ID Identität und Differenz. GA 11 For full details of these titles, see the Bibliography. xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) argues that nihilism today is the normal condition of mankind.1 A terrifying statement. If Heidegger is right, we today breathe in the air of nihilism, stagger in the desert of meaninglessness. Even though one is rightly terrified with the associations of such an idea, one is virtually at a loss when one is asked to explain what is so troubling about nihilism. Indeed, do we really know what is so terrific about nihilism, or we are just afraid of something which we do not know what? This question, admittedly, assumes that an almost instinctive fear about nihilism
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