Katie van Schaijik
#1, Dec 29, 2013 9:39am
You're forgetting von Hildebrand!
He was part of the Göttingen circle around Husserl before Edith Stein. He, too, converted to Catholicism, partly under the influence of Max Scheler. And, while he had to flee Hitler to the US, he survived the war, and continued to write philosophical and religious works until he died in the late 70's. So influential was he that Cardinal Ratzinger wrote that when the real history of the 20th century is finally told, Dietrich von Hildebrand would be recognized as "most prominent" among the great Catholic thinkers.
Pope John Paul II, too, called von Hildebrand "one of the great ethical thinkers of the 20th century."
#2, Dec 29, 2013 9:40am
Also, he was a great devotee of St. Augustine, and an admirer of Scotus and Bonaventure.
#3, Dec 30, 2013 9:11am
Thanks, I added him in there. The main people I wanted to emphasize were Stein and Heidegger; in particular, their different responses to Husserl and Nazism (including the difference between Ratzinger and Heidegger).
Von Hildebrand was about 3 years ahead of Stein, and deserves his due. But I couldn't find any evidence of his influence on Heidegger. Nevertheless, you're right Katie, he should be foremost in the list of people who influenced Ratzinger.
#4, Dec 30, 2013 10:00am
I also found this previous post by Travis to be helpful: http://www.thepersonalistproject.org/comments/personalism_in_heideggers_being_and_time
It clarifies, in English, more fully where Stein disagrees with Heidegger. And, the article that Jules provided in the comments is very much in agreement with DePaulo's Being and Conversion, namely, the insertion of St. Augustine in interpreting the differences of understanding self-possession between Stein and Heidegger.
#5, Dec 30, 2013 1:45pm
It is ironic that Sartre and Heidegger come to the same conclusion, based on the article provided by Jules http://www.thepersonalistproject.org/pdfs_and_other_docs/Fedoryka_Authenticity-_The_Dialectic_of_Self-Possession.pdf
1) Without an objective value/ transcendent Persons to give onself to, there is self-annihilation
2) Domination or 'the will to power' hastens this self-annihilation, even if the agent (Heidegger) sugar coats his philosphy with pantheism (identification of self with external reality)
3) Sartre's Being and Nothingness is just a 'next step' to Heidegger's Being and Time
#6, Dec 30, 2013 1:51pm
Here's the key passage that ties it all together:
"Heidegger's pursuit of radical authenticity, that is, the fullappropriation of one's being as one's own necessarily leads tonihilism, a definitive loss of self. We have here a literally correctthough fundamentally perverted application of Christ's teachingon the saving and loss of one's life. Heidegger is in effect sayingthat one must literally loose his life in order to possess it. Butunlike Christ, by loss he does not mean self abandonment inself-donation to another, he literally means self-annihilation." (Fedoryka)
Like Kant, Heidegger's philosophy seems harmless on the surface--but at the root he is like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
#7, Dec 30, 2013 2:19pm
Samwise, thank you for writing this--it whet my appetite for more on Edith Stein and personalism, which was going to be the topic of the doctoral dissertation that I never ended up writing.
Just one quibble: I wouldn't say "While still a Jew," since acceptance of Christianity doesn't make one no longer Jewish.
#8, Dec 30, 2013 2:46pm
ah, will do.
Go for it, I'm finding she is at the heart of a lot of uncovered 'gold' in the 'goldmine' of Catholic philosophy.
#9, Dec 30, 2013 2:53pm
For instance, Stein disagrees with Descartes "Cogito Ergo Sum" and Husserl/Heidegger's "man's essence is existence". IMO, she says these are reserved for God alone. Rather, Stein argues that "man's essence is a specific way of existence or sphere of responsibility as either a man or a woman". This is crucial to being a person.
Again, I want to thank Travis for previously posting her "commentary on Being and Time"
#10, Dec 31, 2013 1:02pm
Archbishop Bergoglio follows a similar line of thought:
"La esencia del ser humano tiende a la unión del hombre y de la mujer como recíproca realización, atención y cuidado, y como el camino natural para la procreación"
http://www.arzbaires.org.ar/inicio/homiliasbergoglio.html from his July 5th message to Argentine Bishops, 2010
#11, Jan 2, 2014 12:42pm
Samwise, Dec. 30 at 3:46pm
A treasure to be sure! With equal potential to influence the formation of women in our culture today. Thanks for your explanations here.