Letters : 1925-1975

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by Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger,

Translated by Andrew Shields

Harcourt

Due/Published December 2003, 360 pages, cloth

ISBN 0151005257

When they first met in 1925, Martin Heidegger was a star of German intellectual life and Hannah Arendt was his earnest young student. What happened between them then will never be known, but both would cherish their brief intimacy for the rest of their lives.

The tide of history would soon take them in quite different directions. After Hitler took power in Germany in 1933, Heidegger became rector of the university in Freiburg. Arendt, a Jew, fled Germany the same year, heading first to Paris and then to New York. In the decades to come, Heidegger would be recognized as perhaps the most significant philosopher of the twentieth century, while Arendt would establish herself as a voice of conscience in a century of tyranny and war. Their correspondence offers a glimpse into the inner lives of these two major philosophers.

Contents

Foreword

LETTERS

At First Sight
The Second Look
Autumn
Epilogue

Notes to Letters

APPENDICES

Miscellaneous Writings
Abbreviations/Literature Cited in Short Form
Works by Hannah Arendt Referred to
Works by Martin Heidegger Referred to
Letter Sources

Index

Review

“Dear Miss Arendt! I must come see you this evening and speak to your heart. Everything should be simple and clear and pure between us.” -- Martin Heidegger, 1925

With those words, Martin Heidegger initiated a correspondence with Hannah Arendt that lasted half a century and was anything but simple and clear. The relationship between Arendt and Heidegger has generated intense interest for philosophical as well as prurient reasons. These letters do not answer all the questions surrounding their relationship, but they do illuminate in fascinating ways the changing character of their love and respect for one another. Their correspondence also offers a glimpse into the inner lives of two of the twentieth century's most influential minds. The fifty-year correspondence between Heidegger and Arendt is characterized by intense phases of interaction followed by periods of sporadic or no communication at all. Beginning in 1925 when Heidegger was Arendt’s professor, their correspondence reflected their intense physical and intellectual attraction. Most of the letters in this collection are from Heidegger to Arendt (Arendt’s letters to Heidegger were either destroyed or lost) and in his early letters we see the philosopher in the grips of attraction and desire. Heidegger recounts his moments with Arendt and longs for their next meeting. Yet his letters also reflect a deep concern for Arendt, who was struggling to gain confidence and establish her own intellectual identity. Needing to get away from the towering influence of Heidegger, Arendt broke off their relationship in 1928 and, for political reasons, their communication ceased entirely. In 1950, however, Arendt reestablished their correspondence by writing to Heidegger, who was now best-known as a Nazi collaborator. In this second phase their letters are filled with excitement over their new-found friendship. Moreover, these letters reveal that in the intervening years they were frequently in each other’s thoughts. To a certain degree, the two also come to terms with their past relationship and admit their affair to Heidegger’s wife. (The collection includes Arendt’s letters to Elfride Heidegger’s wife.) Beginnning in 1952 the two wrote to each other less often due to Heidegger's and Arendt’s increased workloads and to lingering tension between Arendt and Elfride Heidegger. However, their correspondence again picked up in 1966 and steadily continued until Arendt’s death in 1975. The last phase of their correspondence furthered the collegial relationship that began to take shape between them in the earlier letters. Heidegger and Arendt exchange several letters about their philosophical works and contemporary politics. Despite the more professional subject matter, a sense of intimacy and tenderness pervades the letters as they speak of their scholarly frustrations and of a world that is less amicable to the life of the mind. In many ways, their mutual sense of respect and love is best illuminated in this final stage of their relationship. Letters, 1925-1975 is the first collection that brings together all the existing letters between Heidegger and Arendt and it illuminates one of the most fascinating, complex, and touching relationships of the past century.