Everything is under control: Buber's critique of Heidegger's magic

As part of a religiously-oriented analysis, Martin Buber associates Martin Heidegger's later philosophy with magic. The present article is dedicated to explicating and evaluating this association. It does so, first, by fleshing out how Buber comes to depict Heidegger as an advocate of magic. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal for philosophy of religion
Main Author: Herskowitz, Daniel M. 1987- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Nature B. V [2019]
In: International journal for philosophy of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Buber, Martin 1878-1965 / Heidegger, Martin 1889-1976 / Philosophy of language / Magic
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Technology
B Magic
B Martin Heidegger
B Martin Buber
B Philosophy
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:As part of a religiously-oriented analysis, Martin Buber associates Martin Heidegger's later philosophy with magic. The present article is dedicated to explicating and evaluating this association. It does so, first, by fleshing out how Buber comes to depict Heidegger as an advocate of magic. Then, by examining other appearances of the category of magic in the wider context of Buber's dialogical oeuvre, it demonstrates that what he has in mind when he invokes this category is a specific manner of human appeal to the divine marked by manipulation, utility and control. Finally, it evaluates the affiliation of Heidegger with magic: first, by comparing the metaphysical presuppositions undergirding the logic of magic—specifically the conceptions of, and interrelations between, ‘language' and ‘being'—with Heidegger's views, and second, by judging whether the claim that Heidegger promotes manipulative, utilitarian, and power-laden attitudes can be justified in light of his analysis of ‘technology'. The article ultimately argues that Buber misattributes magic to Heidegger, and that this misattribution better reflects the theoretical framework through which Buber justifies his dialogical position than an apt assessment of Heidegger's thought.
ISSN:1572-8684
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11153-019-09706-1