Heidegger’s ‘uncanniness’ described Germans’ pervasive anxiety and unreality under Nazism

Evidence

The mixture of anxiety and unreality that Sartre and Beauvoir felt was not unusual. Many Germans felt a similar combination, except for those who were Nazi converts, or else who were firm opponents or direct targets. The country was steeped in the sensation that Heidegger called ‘uncanniness’. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 258

Categorization

• DEFINE: Anchors the technical term Unheimlichkeit in lived historical experience, bridging phenomenology to real events.
• XREF: connects to: Heidegger’s vigilance meant resolute German destiny, not opposing Nazi violence — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 289; Heidegger’s philosophical themes could be travestied into Nazi propaganda — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 271

Broader Connections

• Heidegger’s vigilance meant resolute German destiny, not opposing Nazi violence #qualifies (0.80) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 289
• Heidegger’s philosophical themes could be travestied into Nazi propaganda #expands (0.72) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 271