Differing ways, dao and weg

comparative, metaphysical, and methodological considerations in Heidegger's "aus einem gespräch von der sprache"

Bradley D. Park

pp. 309-339

in: Continental Philosophy Review 37 (3), 2004.

Abstract

This paper critically examines Heidegger's 1959 dialogue, A Conversation from [von] Language – Between a Japanese and an Inquirer, across three distinct levels: as (1) a cross-cultural comparative exchange, (2) a meta-philosophical/ontological analysis of the fundamental relation between language and thought, and (3) a methodological inquiry into the phenomenology and hermeneutics of conversation. Despite the problematic nature of Heidegger's explicit comparative engagement, I contend that his questioning of the possibility of "a conversation from house to house" provides a substantial clarification of the meta-philosophical difficulties inherent in comparative and cross-cultural philosophy. At the same time, his thinking with respect to hermeneutics provides a methodological clue to the possibility of and the normative conditions for understanding across such cultural differences.

Cited authors

Heidegger Martin