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I don't think Heidegger is the most influential 20th century philosopher, and I don't think he belongs on any list, except perhaps a list of Nazis. Foucault is

I don't think Heidegger is the most influential 20th century philosopher, and I don't think he belongs on any list, except perhaps a list of Nazis. Foucault is definitely more influential, as is Derrida, if you take the number of citations as evidence of influence. If you want to look at genealogy of specific philosophers, Foucault would have his closest influence in Althusser, and Deleuze would probably have his closest forbear in Whitehead, and Derrida, probably in Levinas.

pmoriarty 9y ago
Your claim that Heidegger wasn't the most influential 20th Century Continental philosopher runs counter to mainstream scholarship in the field. Levinas, Foucault, and Derrida were all influenced by Heidegger. You would be hard pressed to find a 20th Century Contintenal philosopher who wasn't. Heidegger was hugely influential, and also a Nazi (which should not be overlooked, but it should also not be used to try to erase his contribution to philosophy).
- pasabagi 9y ago
  I haven't read enough D + L to comment, but I don't really understand what relation Foucault has to Heidegger. They're very different. In any case, obviously Heidegger was influential. But I don't think it's possible to say he's the most influential. From an empirical perspective, Foucault is the most influential, since he has the greatest number of citations. If you go over a citation ranking and look at each thinker in terms of schools of thought, the most influential would be marxism, structuralism, then critical theory, then probably phenomenology.
  - pmoriarty 9y ago
    Foucault himself said "For me, Heidegger has always been the essential philosopher. My whole philosophical development was determined by my reading of Heidegger" You can find much more about the Foucault-Heidegger connection if you search around the web. Here are some links to get you started: https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/foucault-s-heidegger-philosophy-and-transformative-experience/ https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/foucault-s-heidegger-philosophy-and... https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2012/01/17/foucault-and-heidegger/ https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2012/01/17/foucault-and-he... https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/foucault-and-heidegger https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/foucault-and-...
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >I haven't read enough D + L to comment, but I don't really understand what relation Foucault has to Heidegger. They're very different. Writing styles or even subject matters don't matter. Core ideas matter more. Foucault himself said: "For me Heidegger has always been the essential philosopher. I began by reading Hegel, then Marx, and I set out to read Heidegger in 1951 or 1952; then in 1952 or 1953 – I don’t remember any more – I read Nietzsche. I still have here the notes I took when I was reading Heidegger – I’ve got tons of them! And they are much more important than the ones I took on Hegel or Marx. My entire philosophical development was determined by my reading of Heidegger."
    - dang 9y ago
      That's fascinating. From what I was taught, I'd have expected Nietzsche to have held that position for Foucault. Did he change later? When does that quote date from?
      - pasabagi 9y ago
        Call me cynical - but I'd be very wary of taking Foucault's comments about his own work at face value. He could just be saying this to irritate the predominantly Hegelian, marxist academics in French academia at the time. Foucault is many good things - but he's generally very opaque about his influences. Or, at least, there are many very obvious influences he never talks about.
coldtea 9y ago
>I don't think Heidegger is the most influential 20th century philosopher, and I don't think he belongs on any list, except perhaps a list of Nazis. Well, that's not how the European history of 20th century philosophy (or, for that matter, most celebrated European philosophers) see this.

pmoriarty 9y ago

Your claim that Heidegger wasn't the most influential 20th Century Continental philosopher runs counter to mainstream scholarship in the field. Levinas, Foucault, and Derrida were all influenced by Heidegger. You would be hard pressed to find a 20th Century Contintenal philosopher who wasn't. Heidegger was hugely influential, and also a Nazi (which should not be overlooked, but it should also not be used to try to erase his contribution to philosophy).

pasabagi 9y ago
I haven't read enough D + L to comment, but I don't really understand what relation Foucault has to Heidegger. They're very different. In any case, obviously Heidegger was influential. But I don't think it's possible to say he's the most influential. From an empirical perspective, Foucault is the most influential, since he has the greatest number of citations. If you go over a citation ranking and look at each thinker in terms of schools of thought, the most influential would be marxism, structuralism, then critical theory, then probably phenomenology.
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  Foucault himself said "For me, Heidegger has always been the essential philosopher. My whole philosophical development was determined by my reading of Heidegger" You can find much more about the Foucault-Heidegger connection if you search around the web. Here are some links to get you started: https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/foucault-s-heidegger-philosophy-and-transformative-experience/ https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/foucault-s-heidegger-philosophy-and... https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2012/01/17/foucault-and-heidegger/ https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2012/01/17/foucault-and-he... https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/foucault-and-heidegger https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/foucault-and-...
- coldtea 9y ago
  >I haven't read enough D + L to comment, but I don't really understand what relation Foucault has to Heidegger. They're very different. Writing styles or even subject matters don't matter. Core ideas matter more. Foucault himself said: "For me Heidegger has always been the essential philosopher. I began by reading Hegel, then Marx, and I set out to read Heidegger in 1951 or 1952; then in 1952 or 1953 – I don’t remember any more – I read Nietzsche. I still have here the notes I took when I was reading Heidegger – I’ve got tons of them! And they are much more important than the ones I took on Hegel or Marx. My entire philosophical development was determined by my reading of Heidegger."
  - dang 9y ago
    That's fascinating. From what I was taught, I'd have expected Nietzsche to have held that position for Foucault. Did he change later? When does that quote date from?
    - pasabagi 9y ago
      Call me cynical - but I'd be very wary of taking Foucault's comments about his own work at face value. He could just be saying this to irritate the predominantly Hegelian, marxist academics in French academia at the time. Foucault is many good things - but he's generally very opaque about his influences. Or, at least, there are many very obvious influences he never talks about.

coldtea 9y ago

>I don't think Heidegger is the most influential 20th century philosopher, and I don't think he belongs on any list, except perhaps a list of Nazis. Well, that's not how the European history of 20th century philosophy (or, for that matter, most celebrated European philosophers) see this.