Heidegger's Confessions: The Remains of Saint Augustine in "Being and Time" and Beyond (Religion and Postmodernism)

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 Heidegger’s 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 Heidegger’s 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 Heidegger’s profoundly influential critique of modern metaphysics, Coyne traces a larger lineage between religious and theological discourse and continental philosophy. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is one of the most influential and controversial figures in twentieth century intellectual history. Though it is well known that his brand of phenomenology was heavily indebted to Christian theology, the specific terms of this debt, its impact on his shifting views of time, subjectivity and selfhood, as well as its role in his rejection of modern metaphysics have not been fully grasped. Drawing upon new evidence, this book argues that Heidegger’s initial confrontations with the apostle Paul and with Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions in the years leading up to Being and Time (1927) generated a series of tensions running throughout his work from start to finish. Though concepts drawn from these sources informed Being and Time , they also worked at cross-purposes with its ultimate philosophical aims. Starting in 1930 Heidegger sought to revise these concepts in part by reconsidering their textual sources. This book argues that in his later writings Heidegger reused concepts originally drawn from his 1921 and 1930 seminars on Augustine to criticize his earlier views while simultaneously deepening his criticism of the metaphysical tradition from the pre-Socratic philosophers to Friedrich Nietzsche. It also contends that Heidegger’s complex use of theological sources, coupled with his repeated attempts to distance his own thinking from Christian theology, is instructive for philosophy and religious studies alike, as it can help us to clarify the primary object of inquiry for what is often called the philosophy of religion [Flaptekst] 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 Heidegger's 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 Heidegger's 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 Heidegger's profoundly influential critique of modern metaphysics, Coyne traces a larger lineage between religious and theological discourse and continental philosophy 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 this book, Ryan Coyne isolates a crucially important player in this story: Saint Augustine. Uncovering the significance of Saint Augustine in Heidegger's 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 In Heidegger's Confessions, Ryan Coyne isolates a crucially important player in this story: Saint Augustine. Uncovering the significance of Saint Augustine in Heidegger's 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. -- from dust jacket Heidegger's Paul -- The cogito out-of-reach -- The remains of Christian theology -- Testimony and the irretrievable in being and time -- Temporality and transformation, or Augustine through the turn -- On retraction -- Conclusion : difference and de-theologization