Attunement, art, & Heidegger's other beginning of philosophy
Embargo Date
2028-01-31
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
Long before the so-called “affective turn” in the humanities and social sciences, Heidegger was working on a new, “other beginning” for philosophy that would place affectivity front and center. As early as the 1920s, he proclaimed that his discoveries regarding affectivity demanded a complete rethinking of the meaning of philosophy, science, and human existence itself. He also believed that his theory of affectivity held the keys to addressing some of the greatest ethical crises facing late-modernity: environmental destruction, world wars, genocide, factory farming, and the general spread of depression and disenchantment with life. His hope was that by re-grounding philosophy in an alternative affective attunement, a new existential orientation could take precedence in philosophy and science that would guide humanity beyond these crises.
My dissertation offers new scholarship on Heidegger’s path to this other beginning of philosophy. I contend that central components of this path have been largely neglected and/or misunderstood by leading Heidegger scholars. Accordingly, part of my aim is to remedy some of these shortcomings in the extant secondary literature. Toward this end, I focus on the role Heidegger assigns to be-ing (Seyn), anxiety, depersonalization, awe, festivals (or parties), and poetry in this other beginning. As this may suggest, his path to the other beginning involves interdisciplinary dialogue and a subsequent rethinking of the relationship between philosophical questioning, moods, art, and the sorts of festive atmospheres that allow us to call into question our everyday lives. Accordingly, in my efforts at clarifying these themes in his philosophy, I make use of not only philosophical research, but also research pertaining to contemporary psychiatry and nightlife. This dissertation then prepares the way for future research into the relationship between these components of Heidegger’s philosophy and his abhorrent politics.