Poetry, Language, Thought
by Heidegger, Martin (1971)
Abstract
Poetry, Language, Thought collects Martin Heidegger's pivotal writings on art, its role in human life and culture, and its relationship to thinking and truth. Essential reading for students and anyone interested in the great philosophers, this book opens up appreciation of Heidegger beyond the study of philosophy to the reaches of poetry and our fundamental relationship to the world. Featuring "The Origin of the Work of Art," a milestone in Heidegger's canon, this enduring volume provides potent, accessible entry to one of the most brilliant thinkers of modern times.
Key Passage
[Extract from: The Origin of the work of Art]-In the creation of a work [of Art], the conflict, as rift, must be set back into the earth, and the earth itself must be set forth and used as the self-closing factor. This use, however, does not use up or mis-use the earth as matter, but rather sets it free to benothing but itself. This use of the earth is a working with it that, to be sure, looks like the employment of matter in handicraft. Hence the appearance that artistic creation is also an activity of handicraft. It never is. But it is at all times a use of the earth in the fixing in place of truth in the figure. In contrast, the making of equipment is never directly the effecting of the happening of truth. The production of equipment is finished when a material has been so formed as to be ready for use. For equipment to be ready means that it is dismissed beyond itself, to be used up in serviceability. Not so when a work is created. This becomes clear in the light of the second characteristic, which may be introduced here. The readiness of equipment and the createdness of the work agree in this, that in each case something is produced. But in contrast to all other modes of production, the work is distinguished by being created so that its createdness is part of the created work. (p.62)
Keywords
Poetry, Heidegger, Art, Aesthetics, Culture, Artwork, Artist, Poetry, Twentieth CenturyThemes
The Origin of the Work of Art [1936], Poetry, Language, Thought, Heidegger CitationsLinks to Reference
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