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bordain_de_putel t1_itri2fv wrote

Reply to comment by Being-of-Dasein in The philosophy of Martin Heidegger who argued that the Technological mindset has destroyed our relationship to the world so that Nature is seen as so many resources to exploit. He presents an alternative: a poetic relationship to the world by thelivingphilosophy

>Humans are complicated

I think that's a bit of a cop out. The man was a nazi sympathiser and if your anecdote regarding his mentor is true then the man has no redeeming quality whatsoever.
Adhering to the nazi ideology isn't just something you do out of habit or because it's customary to do so.

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Being-of-Dasein t1_itrj1ne wrote

Not trying to defend him at all. Just trying to say that the brilliance of his philosophy in contrast with his collosal moral failings is hard to explain. I know it's a cliché to say humans are complicated, but I struggle to find another way to put it. Just wanted to confirm that I think he is a reprehensible and disgusting human being for what he did; further, it's made even worse by the fact he never outright repented his actions either.

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Howmanybutts t1_its7t97 wrote

The complicated part is that he did foundational and important work in the field of ontology and other areas of Philosophy, while being a morally viscous person. No one here is arguing his moral and political choices are complicated, they are simply and directly abhorrent - and we should acknowledge them as such.

Lets say a mathematician is a horrible person, a nazi even in this case. Yet they make a discovery of an equation that is highly valuable and even ground braking. The acknowledgment of the significance of the math they discovered shouldn't be thrown away because of their horrific moral and personal life. The two can be divorced as long as their moral character is remembered. The discovery in itself can be celebrated and praised for its own use, while simultaneously condemning the person who discovered it. The same here is being said of Heidegger.

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TunaFree_DolphinMeat t1_ituar4f wrote

Yeah, I agree with this sentiment in general. If a person is morally repugnant or bankrupt that should be remembered. But their contributions to society aren't diminished because of that. You can absolutely cherry pick the good parts of a bad person's work.

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iiioiia t1_itt5js7 wrote

>The man was a nazi sympathiser and if your anecdote regarding his mentor is true then the man has no redeeming quality whatsoever.

Show your work please.

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[deleted] t1_itt8no2 wrote

[deleted]

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iiioiia t1_ittaz26 wrote

Italics not sufficient I see...

> The man was a nazi sympathiser and if your anecdote regarding his mentor is true then the man has no redeeming quality whatsoever.

Show your work please.

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