Heidegger’s later philosophy drained Dasein of human agency and action

Evidence

Beauty aside, Heidegger’s late writing can also be troubling, with its increasingly mystical notion of what it is to be human. If one speaks of a human being mainly as an open space or a clearing, or a means of ‘letting beings be’ and dwelling poetically on the earth, then one doesn’t seem to be talking about any recognisable person. The old Dasein has become less human than ever. It is now a forestry feature. There is glamour in thinking of oneself as a botanical or geological formation, or a space in the landscape — but can Dasein still put up a set of bookshelves? In the very period when Sartre was becoming more concerned with questions of action and involvement in the world, Heidegger was retiring almost entirely from consideration of those questions. Freedom, decision and anxiety no longer play much of a role for him. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 595

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharply characterizes late-Heidegger Dasein as a ‘forestry feature’ and clearing, contrasting with the action-oriented Being and Time account.
• XREF: Echoes the classic debate about whether Heidegger’s later philosophy was politically escapist; connects to discussions of his Nazi involvement and Sartre’s engaged philosophy. — connects to: Heidegger held that modern technology erodes intentionality itself, dissolving subject-object distinction — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 583; Heidegger’s own later philosophy reduces time’s transcendental role — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 105; Heidegger’s ideal of thinking is confinement to a single thought, not open appetite — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 1010 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Heidegger’s own later philosophy reduces time’s transcendental role #expands (0.85) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 105
• Heidegger’s privileged future ecstasy covertly reinstates a figure of subjectivity #complicates (0.80)
• Heidegger’s ideal of thinking is confinement to a single thought, not open appetite #expands (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 1010