Professor Blitz Turns Back Veil on
Vaunted Philosopher with
National Socialist Leanings

Mark Blitz, the Fletcher Jones Professor of Political Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, and the author of Duty Bound: Responsibility and American Public Life, recently authored a book review for the American neoconservative opinion magazine, The Weekly Standard, that takes to task the influential German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) for his association with National Socialism during the rise of the Third Reich.
Blitz's article ("Natural Reich: Martin Heidegger didn't accommodate the Nazis; he embraced them") is a comprehensive reflection on Emmauel Faye's book, The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy in Light of the Unpublished Seminars of 1933-35, which chronicles Heidegger's fervent embrace of Hitler and National Socialism.
"My overarching point." Blitz says, "was to underscore that Heidegger's works are philosophically important and they should still be read and his arguments pondered. But, the reading should be prefaced with a reminder of his political actions."
Heidegger's best-known book, Being and Time, is considered to be one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century.
Blitz's article about Heidegger's Nazi associations can be accessed at: http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/natural-reich.