5 ms·

I want to upvote this for its good points about the relationship between Eastern thought and "Eastern thought" in the "West", but man, what is this? > Postmode

I want to upvote this for its good points about the relationship between Eastern thought and "Eastern thought" in the "West", but man, what is this? > Postmodernism was (according to its progenitor Martin Heidegger...) explicitly and profoundly influenced by Taoism. - Heidegger as the "progenitor of postmodernism" is... contentious, at best. - Even if he was, he never defined "postmodernism" himself; mostly his critics associated him with it. - As far as I know he never explicitly said any particular program was influenced by Taoism (although he definitely was). I would even say this is a specific case of what you're criticizing, as that influence came from his dialogue with the Kyoto school, a syncretic form of Buddhism that itself (IMO somewhat tenuously) claimed it represented also Taoism.

FrustratedMonky 3y ago
Maybe just a German influence? The zeitgeist of the time? Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were both influenced by Buddhism. Think so was Kant, and Hume (Scottish). In general, during that time period, a lot of philosophers were discussing Buddhist ideas, don't think it is stretch that Heidegger had been 'influenced'.
- morelisp 3y ago
  I'm explicitly not contesting that Heidegger was influenced by Taoism! I said "he definitely was". I'm contesting that you'll find a statement by Heidegger like "my work, as extended by postmodernism to which I also lay some intellectual claim, grows out of Taoism," which doesn't check out for at least those three major reasons.
  - FrustratedMonky 3y ago
    I think we are agreeing on Tao. And on postmodernism. I don't know enough to have an opinion. I asked GPT 4 and it seemed GPT 4 also agrees Heidegger was NOT a postmodernist. "No, Martin Heidegger was not considered a postmodernist. He was a German philosopher who is generally associated with phenomenology and existentialism, and he is best known for his work "Being and Time" ("Sein und Zeit"), published in 1927. His philosophical work laid some of the groundwork for postmodern thought, but he himself belonged to an earlier philosophical period. Postmodernism as a philosophical movement didn’t emerge until after World War II, and it is characterized by skepticism toward grand narratives, doubt about objective reality, and a focus on the relative and the subjective. Heidegger's work, particularly his exploration of "being," language, and hermeneutics, influenced many postmodern thinkers, such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-François Lyotard, but he was not himself a postmodernist. Heidegger’s own philosophy is complex and cannot be easily categorized. It includes elements of existentialism, hermeneutics (the theory and methodology of interpretation), and phenomenology (the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view)."

FrustratedMonky 3y ago

Maybe just a German influence? The zeitgeist of the time? Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were both influenced by Buddhism. Think so was Kant, and Hume (Scottish). In general, during that time period, a lot of philosophers were discussing Buddhist ideas, don't think it is stretch that Heidegger had been 'influenced'.

morelisp 3y ago
I'm explicitly not contesting that Heidegger was influenced by Taoism! I said "he definitely was". I'm contesting that you'll find a statement by Heidegger like "my work, as extended by postmodernism to which I also lay some intellectual claim, grows out of Taoism," which doesn't check out for at least those three major reasons.
- FrustratedMonky 3y ago
  I think we are agreeing on Tao. And on postmodernism. I don't know enough to have an opinion. I asked GPT 4 and it seemed GPT 4 also agrees Heidegger was NOT a postmodernist. "No, Martin Heidegger was not considered a postmodernist. He was a German philosopher who is generally associated with phenomenology and existentialism, and he is best known for his work "Being and Time" ("Sein und Zeit"), published in 1927. His philosophical work laid some of the groundwork for postmodern thought, but he himself belonged to an earlier philosophical period. Postmodernism as a philosophical movement didn’t emerge until after World War II, and it is characterized by skepticism toward grand narratives, doubt about objective reality, and a focus on the relative and the subjective. Heidegger's work, particularly his exploration of "being," language, and hermeneutics, influenced many postmodern thinkers, such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-François Lyotard, but he was not himself a postmodernist. Heidegger’s own philosophy is complex and cannot be easily categorized. It includes elements of existentialism, hermeneutics (the theory and methodology of interpretation), and phenomenology (the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view)."