"only god can save us now"

For all things philosophical.

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Post Reply
Peter Kropotkin
Posts: 1501
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2022 5:11 am

"only god can save us now"

Post by Peter Kropotkin »

those of a philosophical bent recognizes that
statement as coming from Heidegger in his 1976 interview in
"Der Spiegel" an interview that came out only after his death...
(as he requested) but we must ask ourselves, why would someone
who was one the foremost philosophers of the 20th century, claim
that only "god can save us now"...
what would possess Heidegger to make such a claim?

a couple of things.. first of all, Heidegger was considered until
1920, to be a "Catholic" philosopher... and was rejected for consideration
as a professor, because he was so considered to be a "Catholic" philosopher...
several universities rejected him as professor because he was Catholic...

and his book, "Being and Time" could be thought as really being about god...
replace the word "being" with the word "god" and now the
book actually sense... (a reminder that Heidegger returned to the Catholic
church in his old age)

so in fact, despite some thought that he was a existentialist philosopher,
he was really a religious philosopher... ( but one might argue that there
is no difference between an existentialist philosopher and a religious
philosopher) so his belief that only a "god can save us now" is
a reflection of his religious background...

and I admit I disagree with him that "only a god can save us now"
when IN fact, we can only be saved if we discard any type of belief
in a god... I would suggest that we must reject any metaphysical
beliefs.. such as in capitalism, communism, Catholicism, Buddhism,
nationalism, education and morality.. to name a few metaphysical
beliefs...

the burden of existence isn't about those metaphysical beliefs but
the burden lies in our own understanding of the meaning and purpose
of existence for human beings... we are traveling from being an animal
to being animal/human, which is where most people are today to becoming
fully human.... where very few people have gone...

the wife and I are at present discussing where we are going on vacation in
May.. and one possibility to arise is Boston Mass... neither of us has been
there and I would like to go...but do we depend on some metaphysical
means to reach Boston.. or do we plan our trip in terms of airplanes
and hotels and transportation? that is the very definition of being human,
what sort of trip are we talking about and how are we taking it?
If we don't plan the trip, who does? if we don't make the appropriate
choices, who will? How shall we fly? United, Southwest, American?
and which hotels shall we stay in? the wife has already decided on
a hotel.. and that is Ok with me... but we haven't left our choices
to some metaphysical being... we make our choices and must live with
our choices.. that is what it means to be human... making choices
and then living with those choices...there is no need for any god....

and the same goes true for my life and those choices...
why do I need god to make my choices in life? my journey,
my own personal journey has no need for a god to save me...
I just make my choices and then live with them as best as I can...
do you need some metaphysical being or choice to make your choices?
and if so, why?

Kropotkin
tonterias
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2023 2:22 am

Re: "only god can save us now"

Post by tonterias »

He may have been a catholic philosopher but he also joined the Nazi party under Hitler. I'm not sure whether he did willingly or out of peer pressure but the fact that he did raises some questions. How much of a catholic was he? How does he reconcile his existential philosophy with a belief in God? Did he also believe in Nazism too?
Post Reply