Philosophical Ideas of Martin Heidegger - Essay Example

11 December Martin Heidegger Introduction Martin Heidegger is fairly regarded as one of the most influential and unique philosophers in the history of the 20th century. His ideas about metaphysics, thinking, politics, art, and aesthetics, produce significant effects on the evolution of world philosophy. However, human being and the place of thinking in it was one of the principal objects of Heidegger’s philosophic analysis. Heidegger was the author of the so-called “thought-provoking” ideas, but not all philosophers readily accepted his viewpoint, including Robin George Collinwood. Heidegger was confident that human beings are not capable of thinking, but are only learning to do it. Collingwood, on the contrary, asserted that thinking is something individuals can easily accomplish. In distinction from Heidegger, who claims that thought-provoking stimuli are the initial stage of the thinking process, Collingwood positions absolute presuppositions as an intermediate stage of the metaphysical analysis, which allows individuals manipulating their experiences and converting them into science. Martin Heidegger is well-known for his works about thinking. Most of his papers are concerned with a human being and the role of thinking in it. In his work What Calls for Thinking? Heidegger develops his own system of metaphysical vision of the world. His most essential idea is that humans are inherently incapable of thinking and are only learning to do it (Heidegger 346). The most thought-provoking is the fact that people do not think (Heidegger 346). Surely, everything reasonable in this world revolves around thinking, and thousands of people are confident that thinking is the most intangible human value. However, that people are capable of thinking does not necessarily mean that they can successfully use their physiological abilities (Heidegger 345). Even when a person wants something too much, he (she) does not always have abilities or opportunities to make it happen (Heidegger 345). Thinking is no exception: to be able to think, individuals need to learn this skill. Learning to think, in Heidegger’s view, is possible by “giving heed to what there is to think about” (346). What is the most valuable thing to give heed to, in order to learn thinking? Finally, what is there that emerges in response to thought-provoking thinking? Generally, anything that makes individuals think can be thought-provoking (Heidegger 346). Anything that must be thought about can be thought-provoking, but the degree to which different things are thought-provoking is varied. Most thought-provoking is the fact that individuals are still not thinking but are only learning to do it (Heidegger 346). Even the profoundest thoughts and ideas do not prove an assumption that human beings can think (Heidegger 349). Nevertheless, in response to thought-provoking thinking, individuals can make a leap into thinking, which means that (a) they give up a defensive position regarding everything that has been said by others and, simultaneously, (b) ensure that the most thought-provoking themes do not withdraw (Heidegger 349). In simple terms, thought-provoking impulses lead individuals to learn thinking. Thinking that emerges in response to thought-provoking stimuli helps individuals to address everything that addresses them and is considered essential. Thought-provoking impulses give individuals a direction, which they need to follow, to become capable of thinking (Heidegger 361). It goes without saying that not all philosophers readily accept Heidegger’s viewpoint. Collingwood developed his own system of thinking philosophy around so-called “absolute presuppositions”. In distinction from Heidegger, Collingwood does not think that human beings are not capable of thinking. On the contrary, any individual can successfully proceed from low-grade assumptions to high-grade thinking (Collingwood 35-6). High-grade thinking means “thinking energetically instead of idly: thinking hard instead of allowing your mind to drift” (Collingwood 36). Where Heidegger uses his thought-provoking arguments as a strong motivating force, to help individuals learn thinking (345), Collingwood presents absolute presuppositions as an essential intermediate stage of the thinking process (47). Simply stated, thought-provoking initiates and shows a direction for thinking, and absolute presuppositions are identified in the process of a profound metaphysical analysis. Only metaphysical analysis can help to identify absolute presuppositions, which are neither true nor false (Collingwood 151). However, in no way do absolute presuppositions exemplify the ultimate stage of thinking – rather, they represent a crucial element of transition between presupposing and science. The fact is in that all absolute presuppositions are directly related to specific scientific and historical concepts: they are “catalytic agents which the mind must bring out of its own resources to the manipulation of what is called experience and the conversion of it into science and civilization” (Collingwood 203). Therefore, scientific thinking is impossible without absolute presuppositions. Scientific thinking is a reasonable response to absolute presuppositions that are identified during metaphysical analysis. Despite these differences, Heidegger and Collingwood’s philosophies of thinking reveal an essential commonality: they both create a pathway for improving individual thinking skills. Not separately but together, these philosophies create a holistic picture of the thinking process, which begins with thought-provoking intentions and evolves, through absolute presuppositions, toward achieving an absolute scientific end. Conclusion Martin Heidegger’s ideas about thinking produced significant effects on the development of world philosophy. Heidegger claims that individuals are inherently incapable of thinking and are only learning to do it. Thinking is a reasonable response to thought-provoking stimuli that create a direction one needs to follow, in order to learn thinking. In distinction from Heidegger, Collinwood is confident that individuals can successfully cope with their thinking tasks: he presents absolute presuppositions as an intermediate stage between presupposing and thinking. In distinction from Heidegger, who claims that thought-provoking stimuli are the initial stage of the thinking process, Collingwood positions absolute presuppositions as an intermediate stage of the metaphysical analysis, which allows individuals manipulating their experiences and converting them into science. For Collingwood, absolute presuppositions are neither true nor false – they are crucial catalytic agents that let the mind bring out available mental resources and use them to meet its thinking objectives. In Collingwood’s view, scientific thinking is a natural response to absolute presuppositions, which are identified as a result of a profound metaphysical analysis. Despite these differences, Heidegger and Collinwood’s philosophies create a holistic picture of the thinking process, which starts with thought-provoking and proceeds through absolute presuppositions to the absolute scientific end. References Collingwood, R.G. An Essay on Metaphysics. Oxford University Press, 2002. Heidegger, M. Basic Writings: From Being and Time (1927) to The Task of Thinking (1964). Taylor & Francis, 1978. Read More