Husserl informally adopted Heidegger as a surrogate son and heir

Evidence

At his sixty-first birthday party in 1920, Malvine Husserl jokingly called Heidegger the ‘phenomenological child’. Heidegger cheerfully played up to the role of adoptee, sometimes beginning his letters ‘Dear fatherly friend’. He once wrote a thank-you letter for the Husserls’ hospitality by saying, ‘I truly had the feeling of being accepted as a son.’ — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 186

Categorization

• SHARE: A colleague reading on existentialism scholarship would enjoy this vivid personal texture of the Husserl-Heidegger mentorship.
• XREF: connects to: Husserl backed Heidegger’s career hoping to restore ideological loyalty but lost the succession — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 225; Husserl’s patronage advanced Heidegger toward Freiburg’s chair — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 187; Heidegger privately dismissed Husserl even while benefiting from his patronage — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 224

Broader Connections

• Husserl backed Heidegger’s career hoping to restore ideological loyalty but lost the succession #expands (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 225
• Husserl’s patronage advanced Heidegger toward Freiburg’s chair #expands (0.80) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 187
• Heidegger privately dismissed Husserl even while benefiting from his patronage #qualifies (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 224