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The Error of Heidegger - Resolving the Problem of a Void of a Void (Paperback)
Loot Price: R243
Discovery Miles 2 430
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The Error of Heidegger - Resolving the Problem of a Void of a Void (Paperback)
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Loot Price R243
Discovery Miles 2 430
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The demise of metaphysics has become starkly apparent beginning
with the nineteenth century and culminating in the twentieth
centuries. The shambles of metaphysics is so apparent its absence
was noted by one of the great cosmologists of the twentieth century
when he stated: However, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers,
or anyone else except a few specialists. Philosophers reduced the
scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous
philosopher of the century, said, "The sole remaining task for
philosophy is the analysis of language." What a come down from the
tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant Steven Hawking - A
Brief History of Time But it is not the technicality of science,
which has caused philosophy to draw up short of its objective and
hesitate. As was expressed so well by Charles Seife in his book,
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, it was the fear of
addressing the issue of 'nothingness', which caused philosophy and
metaphysics to hesitate. Martin Heidegger accentuates this point in
his lecture: The Fundamental Question of Metaphysics. In this
lecture, Heidegger espouses what he claims is the fundamental
question of metaphysics. Heidegger states the question: 'Why are
there essents rather than nothing?' Having stated the question,
Heidegger then expends thirteen thousand words to explain why the
question is stated as such rather than being stated as: Why are
there essents? Throughout the expenditure of his energies to
understand why the first question as opposed to the second
question, Heidegger makes such comments as: For why should we go on
to ask about nothing? Nothing is simply nothing. He who speaks of
nothing does not know what he is doing. ... He contradicts himself.
... to speak of nothing is illogical. He who speaks and thinks
illogically is unscientific. But he who goes so far as to speak of
nothing in the realm of philosophy, where logic has its very home,
exposes himself most particularly to the accusation of offending
against the fundamental rule of all thinking. Such a speaking about
nothing consists entirely of meaningless propositions. Moreover he
who takes the nothing seriously is allying himself with
nothingness. He is patently promoting the spirit of negation and
serving the cause of disintegration. Not only is speaking of
nothing utterly repellent to thought: it also undermines all
culture and all faith. What disregards the fundamental law of
thought and also destroys faith and the will to build is pure
nihilism. One must not conclude from this quote that it was
Heidegger who lead us to the point of fearing 'nothingness' for
Heidegger simply verbalized in an eloquent manner what it was
humanity has always feared to confront and that is the concept of
'nothingness' itself... In short it will be stated that nothingness
does exist. Even more disturbing it will be suggested that not only
does nothingness exist but that nothingness has an active role to
play in the dynamics of totality as opposed to the concept of
nothingness having a potentially passive role to play in the
dynamics of totality. So if the individual is individuality and God
is the Whole, including what lies 'beyond' time, what is the
universe? The universe 'is' the void. The universe 'is' nothingness
itself. And so it is we are about to defy Heidegger's warning that
to examine the concept of nothingness is to stamp one's own
forehead with a letter more feared by philosophers than the scarlet
letter 'A'. We are about to self impose a scarlet letter 'I' upon
our brows. We are about to label ourselves as 'illogical'. Why risk
being labeled 'illogical'? It is only by facing our fears that we
can conquer our fears and until metaphysicians face their most
dreaded fear, the fear of nothingness, we will not be able to move
metaphysics to the its next level of development.
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