17 September 2007

Heidegger's muse


Heidegger dares to think the 'unthought' in other thinkers. But at the same time he points out that the more original a thinker's thought, more the unthought in him, the more he fails to comes to grips with what he thinks. Heidegger's thought, in this sense, may be termed un-original - it does not allow itself to leap into the fertile patch of obscurity. His thought abandons a certain kind of unreflective innocence - it is almost too serious, too morose, too self-absorbed, too proud. And for this very same reason, his philosophy opts the path of safety; it always makes a safe bet, because it first wants to secure for itself the second best place from which it then hopes to aim for the stars (if it can hope at all).

But this passivity is also the 'woman' in Heidegger's thought, which says, "I cannot love but I want to be loved." The latter, more than anything. This 'woman' refuses to be tied down, almost to the point of being promiscuous. She jumps from one nook to another, eternally afraid of being 'pinned down', since to settle is to enter the very unthinking-domain of creative obscurity. She bails herself out of every situation that might define and limit her. (Why? Because she has already limited herself in a deeper sense?) She washes her hands off the risks of existence. She wants to be free, out of irresponsibility.

Limbo

The mere thinkability of a thought is not a proof of its truth. Nevertheless, this very thinkability makes the thought irrefutable. So it is with the vestibule we call life - irrefutable, but not yet true.

Tab