Heidegger and the Purpose of Art

In this salon,  Zohar Atkins continues his conversation on Heidegger’s philosophy with a focus on art and artists. 

What makes a work of art great? What does it look like to make one’s life a work of art? Is art a modern substitute for religion? What role should artists play in society? What can poetry achieve that technology cannot?

Let’s discuss these questions and more, using Heidegger’s philosophy of art as a launch pad. Heidegger, one of the greatest thinkers of all time, was fascinated with the meaning of art and poetry, especially in his later work. He even moves to writing more and more artistically and impressionistically, giving the impression that he thought philosophy itself should be an art. What happens to the task of thinking when we conceive of the thinker not as a person with answers, but as an artist?

Recommended Reading:

My mega thread on Heidegger

Stanford Encyclopedia Entry 

Any or all of Being and Time

Short essays I’ve written on Heidegger:

On Heidegger and Virtue Ethics

What is a Fundamental Question?

Heidegger on Mood

Should We Care About the Afterlife?

About me: I am a rabbi, poet, scholar, and coach. I wrote my PhD thesis on Heidegger at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. I seek to help people live with awe and joy. I write a daily question and a weekly Torah commentary.

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