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Beginning with Heidegger: Strauss, Rorty, Derrida, Dugin and the Philosophical Constitution of the Political

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Beginning with Heidegger: Strauss, Rorty, Derrida, Dugin and the Philosophical Constitution of the Political Beginning with Heidegger: Strauss, Rorty, Derrida, Dugin and the Philosophical Constitution of the Political by Michael Millerman A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Michael Millerman 2018 Beginning with Heidegger: Strauss, Rorty, Derrida, Dugin and the Philosophical Constitution of the Political Michael Millerman Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto 2018 Abstract This dissertation examines how Leo Strauss, Richard Rorty, Jacques Derrida, and Alexander Dugin responded to Martin Heidegger’s inceptual thought when defining and relating philosophy and the political. The Introduction discusses the general concepts, motivations, and aims of the study. Chapter One provides a précis of Heidegger’s philosophy from The History of the Concept of Time to his middle-period writings. Chapter Two compares Strauss and Heidegger on the Idea of the Good in Plato. Chapter Three argues that Rorty is prevented from a philosophically serious reading of Heidegger by his a priori social-democratic commitments. Chapter Four distinguishes the spaces of Derridean and Heideggerian political philosophy. Chapter Five is an account of Dugin’s embrace and extension of Heidegger’s inceptual thought. The Conclusion analyses obstacles blocking access to Heidegger in political theory and argues for a new way forward. ii Acknowledgments I’d like to thank Ed Andrew, David Novak, David Cook, Fred Dallmayr, and Ruth Marshall for supporting this project by agreeing to serve on the dissertation committee and for their many helpful and supportive comments throughout the process. I am particularly grateful to Ruth Marshall, without whose commitment to philosophical inquiry this project would not have happened. Fred Dallmayr’s encouraging comments as external reader were also highly appreciated. Finally, I thank my wife Lola for her patience, confidence, and love. I dedicate this work to Ruth and Lola. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Beginning with Heidegger ......................................................................................................... 5 The Road to Heidegger .............................................................................................................. 8 Sovereignty and Conversion .................................................................................................... 13 Political Spiritualities ............................................................................................................... 18 Heidegger’s Gordian Knot ....................................................................................................... 23 Old Masters and New ............................................................................................................... 24 Three Responses to Heidegger’s “Historicism” ....................................................................... 27 Beyng-Historical Historicism ................................................................................................... 30 A Fourth Response ................................................................................................................... 33 Philosophy and Worldview ...................................................................................................... 36 A Strange Axiom ...................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 1 Heidegger ..................................................................................................................... 43 Phenomenology and the Constitution of the Sciences ............................................................. 44 Phenomenology: Its Basic Discoveries .................................................................................... 48 Radicalizing Phenomenology: From Consciousness to the Question of Being ....................... 56 Beyond Being and Time ........................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 2 Strauss .......................................................................................................................... 98 Heidegger on The Idea of the Good ....................................................................................... 102 Strauss on the Idea of the Good ............................................................................................. 110 Is Heidegger Modern? ............................................................................................................ 123 Orthodox and Revisionist Straussian Approaches to Heidegger ........................................... 126 iv Chapter 3 Rorty ........................................................................................................................... 130 Heidegger, Practically Speaking ............................................................................................ 130 Hopeful Heideggerianism ...................................................................................................... 132 Against Nostalgia ................................................................................................................... 137 The Missing Circle ................................................................................................................. 140 Grounding Politics Without Philosophy ................................................................................ 142 Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity ........................................................................................ 149 Questioning Piety ................................................................................................................... 158 Chapter 4 Derrida ........................................................................................................................ 162 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 162 Deconstruction and Apophatic Mysticism ............................................................................. 163 Inceptual and Deconstructive Topolitologies ......................................................................... 171 Philopolemology, or the Philosophical Constitution of the Political ..................................... 178 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 191 Chapter 5 Dugin .......................................................................................................................... 193 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 230 Access to Heidegger in Political Theory ................................................................................ 230 The Politicization of Philosophy ............................................................................................ 231 The Two Risks ....................................................................................................................... 235 What is Political Philosophy? ................................................................................................ 239 Recapitulation ........................................................................................................................ 246 A Way Forward ...................................................................................................................... 248 v List of Figures Figure 1: Beyng, Being, Idea, Beings ......................................................................................... 105 Figure 2: Rorty's Escalator .......................................................................................................... 137 Figure 3: Russia’s Archeo-Modern Hermeneutic Ellipse ........................................................... 195 Figure 4: Two Hermeneutic Circles ............................................................................................ 195 Figure 5: Strange Attractor ......................................................................................................... 196 Figure 6: The Existential Multiplicity of Daseins and the Possibility of Philosophy ................. 204 Figure 7: Horizons of Political Temporality and the Political Concepts of Russian Dasein ...... 214 vi Introduction Since the turn of the twentieth century the rational foundations of liberal democracy have been attacked and undermined by anti-liberal philosophers. Foremost among them is Martin Heidegger. Heidegger and the philosophical revolution he initiated posed such a challenge to liberal democracy that more than a few of its defenders were faced with the dilemma once expressed by Leo
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