Arendt and Heidegger

Author: Alice-Beta Edinger
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-03-01
Features: A rare and precious book, an important record, an extraordinary love tragedy. The revelations made in this book are bound to cause a sensation. It is the first book to detail a story filled with enduring passion and secret love. The protagonists are two great thinkers of the 20th century: Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger. Through the disclosure of their previously unknown correspondence, author Alice-Beta Edinger portrays the relationship between these lovers that spanned half a century. In the public imagination, Heidegger was a rigorous philosopher engaged in abstract thinking; and Arendt, in her independent and confident personality, was almost flawless. However, in the face of the abundant living facts provided in this book, no one would not be surprised. Arendt met Heidegger at the University of Marburg in 1924. She was eighteen years old, a German Jewish student attending his class; he was thirty-five and already married. Their secret romance lasted for four years, followed by a decade-long separation—during which Heidegger became a Nazi, Arendt emigrated to the United States, and devoted herself to the study of political theory and philosophy. In 1950, their relationship was renewed, maintaining an intimate friendship in a highly complex and awkward situation until Arendt's death in 1974. Author Edinger, with a wealth of previously unknown details, presents to readers this strange, tormenting rejection and obsession. She tells us how Heidegger used Arendt while influencing her thoughts, and how Arendt struggled to forgive Heidegger's well-known involvement with the Nazis. Moreover, who can say that Heidegger's love for Arendt, and his obsession with the Nazis, had no connection to this philosopher's romantic tendencies? An exciting love story, a book that reveals the emotional world of two great thinkers. If you are inclined to explore the complexities of the human heart, you will surely be drawn to it.