From Library Journal
This work is the author's response to "the ongoing debates in France regarding the resurgence of anti-Semitism" and to Victor Farias's recent revelations in Heidegger and Nazism ( LJ 12/89). It consists of two essays, "the jews" and "Heidegger." In the former, "the jews" includes all those who are dispossessed, all who are reviled and outcast. His analysis uses insights of Kant, Freud, Lacan, Deleuze, Adorno, and Wiesel. Lyotard's "de fense" of Heidegger in the second essay is based on the argument that "thought exceeds its contexts": Heidegger was inexcusably politically culpable, but his philosophical thought is still "equal to the greatest." Lyotard's analysis is multifaceted and profound, defying easy synopsis. The book will be of interest to a wide audience.
- Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, D.C.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Synopsis
Although Heidegger's relationship to nazism was hinted at as early as 1960, it was only confirmed in 1987 through the publication in France of previously unpublished speeches, lectures and letters. French intellectual responded violently, either vindicating or condemning Heidegger. The two interrelated essays in this volume are Lyotard's contribution to the debate. In the first, "the Jews", Lyotard establishes the theme of the "outsider" by placing "the Jews" in lower case, plural, and in quotation marks to represent the outsiders: artists, anarchists, black, the homeless - and the Jews; they are all a disruptive, alien force which threatens the West's dream of development and fulfilment. In "Heidegger", the second essay, Lyotard postulates a nubmer of rules for explaining the "Heidegger affair", most of which call for a close textual reading, and facilitate interpretation of the affair within the widest possible context.