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Elzbieta Ettinger

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Hannah Arendt Martin Heidegger (Paper) Paperback – 3 Nov. 1997

by Elzbieta Ettinger (Author)

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This book is the first to tell in detail the story of the passionate and secret love affair between two of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century, Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger. Drawing on their previously unknown correspondence, Elzbieta Ettinger describes a relationship that lasted for more than half a century, a relationship that sheds startling light on both individuals, challenging our image of Heidegger as an austere and abstract thinker and of Arendt as a consummately independent and self-assured personality. Arendt and Heidegger met in 1924 at the University of Marburg, when Arendt, an eighteen-year-old German Jew, became a student of Heidegger, a thirty-five-year-old married man. They were lovers for about four years; separated for almost twenty years, during which time Heidegger became a Nazi and Arendt emigrated to the United States and involved herself with issues of political theory and philosophy; resumed their relationship in 1950 and in spite of its complexities remained close friends until Arendt's death in 1975. Ettinger provides engrossing details of this strange and tormented relationship. She shows how Heidegger used Arendt but also influenced her thought, how Arendt struggled to forgive Heidegger for his prominent involvement with the Nazis, and how Heidegger's love for Arendt and fascination with Nazism can be linked to his romantic predisposition. A dramatic love story and a revealing look at the emotional lives of two intellectual giants, the book will fascinate anyone interested in the complexities of the human psyche.

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ISBN-10

0300072546
ISBN-13

978-0300072549
Edition

Revised ed.
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

3 Nov. 1997
Language

English
Dimensions

18.85 x 12.85 x 1.02 cm
Print length

150 pages
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Revised ed. edition (3 Nov. 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 150 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300072546
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300072549
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 18.85 x 12.85 x 1.02 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 3,215,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 2,403 in Historical Biographies 1701-1900
- 4,339 in German Historical Biographies
- 18,364 in Philosopher Biographies

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Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5

11 global ratings

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Leena Kurki

Interesting book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 May 2016

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a very interesting book and a very good, also..

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Raouf Tajvidi

A Simplistic Approach to a Complex Relationship

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 August 2020

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This book has a reductionist approach to two prominent thinkers of the 20th Century. Martin Heidegger is depicted as a cunning, manipulative, lying and self-serving Nazi philosopher and Hannah Arendt as a naive Jewish intellectual who repeatedly failed to see the true Heidegger. The book fails to explore sufficiently the complex interplay of the different dimensions of a complex relationship; i.e. emotional, psychological, historical, political, philosophical and ideological; in a very difficult period of the history of the 20th Century. Later research on the subject has refuted some aspects of the argument produced in this book. I did not find the book an enjoyable read but monotonous and boring.

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Cincinnatus

Arendt: The human being

Reviewed in the United States on 1 November 2013

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Ordinary human beings are often dazzled at a young age by charismatic elders. Occasionally, these asymmetric relationships persist into later life. This well-researched and well-written book traces the relationship between Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger from its origins at the University of Marburg to the end of Heidegger's life.

The initial impact of this book is to put meat on the bones of those ongoing abstract debates about the degree of Heidegger's culpability in supporting the Third Reich. Beyond that, this book tips the scale by showing that Heidegger was capable of seducing a young, impressionable student, ending it when he became worried about the affair's potential impact on his career, then renewing the relationship in later life when it suited his purposes. Heidegger needed Arendt's support against his critics.

Readers will come away disgusted with Heidegger, but impatient with Arendt. She does not come off as tough minded as her reputation suggests. She allowed her early infatuation with Heidegger to color what should have been a mature judgement. Driven by old loyalties, she defended Heidegger against his critics.

3 people found this helpful

cornelia

Hannah Arendt/Martin Heidegger love affair

Reviewed in the United States on 15 July 2013

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Excellent book, Hannah Arendt was a very sensitive woman and a great political writer. I love her passion describing the evil of the communist 's ideologyand what it represents for human kind.

Prof Dr Ellen Reinke

Unverantwortlich

Reviewed in Germany on 18 November 2015

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An kritischen Stimmen bis zu vollmundigen Verurteilungen sowohl Hannah Arendts wie Martin Heideggers ist die Diskussion ja keineswegs arm. Das Machwerk Elzbieta Ettingers schlägt jedoch alle Rekorde. Sie zeichnet einen dämonischen Charismatiker Heidegger, der sich eine junge Jüdin als Geliebte zulegt, um sie ein Leben lang unter der Fuchtel zu halten. Hannah Arendt erscheint als angeblich typisch mit einem Minderwertigkeitskoplex ausgestattete deutsche Jüdin, die den Verlockungen erliegt. Als Maß ihrer Hörigkeit sieht Eittinger die Tatsache an, daß Arendt nach dem Nationalsozialismus den Kontakt mit Heidegger nicht abbrach, der sie nun als Entlastungszeugin und Verbreiterin seines Werkes in den USA ausbeutet. Das Buch erschien bei der Yale University Press, von der man anderes erwartet hätte.
Da hilft nur eines: Zurück zur Originalliteratur. Man lese den Briefwechsel Hannah Arendt - Martin Heidegger, erschienen bei Klostermann, und bilde sich seine eigene Meinung.

3 people found this helpful

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Dr. Terrence McGarty

A Window on a Relationship

Reviewed in the United States on 1 November 2014

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This is the examination by Ettinger of her correspondence with Heidegger. Some have criticized her for voyeurism but the more we learn of Heidegger the more these letters are important. The relationship between the two were as lovers when he was her Professor and they remained close even after he was involved with the Nazis. The book is short and to the point. The author had a somewhat unique opportunity to examine the correspondence and it shines a light on Arendt that dramatically shows her scotoma regarding his actions before and during the War. As one learns more of Heidegger one sees him as a self justifying Germ with strong anti-Semite predilections. In a sense he "play" Arendt and she appears to fall into his trap.

Jay

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 16 September 2017

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Curious coupling between these orthogonal historical figures

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