Shot Through With Swastikas

A book review in the NY Times covers the forthcoming publication of Heidegger: The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy. I haven’t yet seen the book, but it sounds like a preposterous thesis to me.

It must be false to assert that Heidegger’s work is thoroughly imbued with Nazism. It’s an outrageous claim; far more outrageous than even the claim that Marx’s work is thoroughly imbued with Marxism. On one way of thinking, Marx’s work obviously is thoroughly imbued with Marxism, since Marx wrote it; but it’s not at all clear to me that all of the thoughts in Marx’s work are thoroughly “Marxist.”

Plus, there’s the added complication that just because it may be imbued with a particular view (which I don’t think it is), that therefore it ought not to be taught.

This article a few weeks back generated a storm of criticism. Check out the comments section for a few chuckles.