Heidegger’s philosophical intensity reflected a threatening inner landscape

Evidence

Picht suspected that some of this Heideggerian rudeness was a defensive reaction: he felt threatened, both by others and from within himself. ‘The history of Being could abruptly make its way into the personal, and the personal into what was to be thought.’ Once, Picht felt he had a terrifying glimpse of what it might be like to be Heidegger: ‘How can Heidegger the person be described? He lived in a thundery landscape. As we were taking a walk in Hinterzarten during a severe storm, a tree was uprooted ten meters in front of us. That touched me, as if I could then visualize what was going on inside him.’ — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 192

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Heidegger’s forest imagery and craft metaphors came from childhood experience — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 179; Heidegger’s peasant self-image masked an unusually dominant personality — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 180; Ambivalence toward Heidegger stems from recognizing his moral failures within oneself — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 995 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Ambivalence toward Heidegger stems from recognizing his moral failures within oneself #expands (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 995
• Heidegger’s obscure style reflects an aim to overturn all of metaphysics #complicates (0.72) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 210
• Heidegger’s own later philosophy reduces time’s transcendental role #expands (0.72) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 105