Introduction to Philosophy -- Thinking and Poetizing

Translator’s Foreword

Translator’s Foreword Heidegger’s incomplete lecture course Introduction to Philosophy —Thinking and Poetizing originates from the 1944 Winter Semester at Freiburg and appears in this volume along with revisions and notes from volume 50 of the Heidegger Gesamtausgabe . GA 50 also contains Heidegger’s undelivered lecture from 1940, Nietzsche’s Metaphysics, which has already been published in English and is not translated here. However, a translation of Heidegger’s notes to Nietzsche’s Metaphysics, which contain several important statements regarding Heidegger’s reading of Nietzsche, can be found at the back of the volume as the “Appendix to Nietzsche’s Metaphysics.” The 1944 lecture course Introduction to Philosophy opens with Heidegger clarifying that, despite the title, it is not an introduction (Einleitung) to philosophy. Instead, Heidegger proposes a guide (Anleitung) to philosophy, or more precisely, a guide to thinking, in which we will be guided by the thinker Nietzsche. And it is especially the relationship between Nietzsche’s poetry and philosophy that Heidegger suggests will help guide us. To articulate his method of thinking about Nietzsche’s thinking and its poetic character, Heidegger continually employs a string of German verbs formed from the word denken (to think): andenken (to think of, to reflect), mit-denken (to think with), zudenken (to-be-thought), and nach-denken (to think about). The verb nachdenken also implies a way to gain access to things and objects in the sense of “contemplation,” and I have translated it as “to contemplate” when the context requires this more robust sense of the word. Whenever Heidegger hyphenates the verb nachdenken as nach-denken, then the parallel hyphenation rexiii sults in “con-template,” emphasizing the directional pursuit of the task of thinking. Another basic word for “thinking” that Heidegger uses repeatedly in this lecture is the German word sinnen (to think, to meditate). Sinnen derives from the Old High German sinnan, “to clear a way.” Heidegger provides an insightful etymology in Wissenschaft und Besinnung where he defines sinnen as “pursuing a path, which has already taken up a matter from itself, is in our language, sinnan, sinnen. Becoming involved with the meaning [Sinn] is the essence of Besinnung” (GA 7, p. 63). From this explanation, we can see that Heidegger thinks of sinnen as “thought that pursues a certain path,” which is a difficult notion to translate into a single word in English. Professor Günter Figal has suggested that sinnen contains a proximity to the German words denken (thinking) or meditieren (meditating), and I have incorporated this suggestion into the translation. Another important term in this lecture that proves difficult for a translator is Besinnung, which is formed from the root verb sinnen, besinnen, that we have just discussed. As Heidegger himself notes, the essence of Besinnung is the involvement with the meaning of a thoughtful wandering. I have attempted to capture this aspect of the word by rendering Besinnung as “reflection ” and occasionally as “awareness,” depending on the context . All other translation notes are included as footnotes in the text. Special Thanks I would like to extend special thanks to Professor John Sallis for his advice and direction, to Professor Michael Resler for his meticulous review and consultation, to Professor Günter Figal for his illuminating suggestions, and to the teachers and staff at the Goethe Institut in Freiburg for their instruction. Phillip Jacques Braunstein xiv Translator’s Foreword Introduction to Philosophy— Thinking and Poetizing ...