Black Notebooks

The Black Notebooks (German: Schwarze Hefte) are a set of notebooks written by German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) between 1931–1941. Originally a set of small notebooks with black covers in which Heidegger jotted observations (some have said "sketches"), they have been collated into a 1,000-page transcript.[1]

Peter Trawny is editing the transcripts and publishing them in the Gesamtausgabe (GA). The first transcript was published in 2014. As of 2020, fourteen notebooks have been published encompassing the years 1931–1941 (GA 94–96). The notebooks from 1942–1945 are in private possession, but have already been prepared for publication. The first notebook, Anmerkungen I, now GA 97, was originally believed to be lost, but was found in the possession of Heidegger scholar Silvio Vietta, who had received it from his mother Dorothea. One notebook written in approximately 1930, sometimes called: “Winke Überlegungen (I)”, is still missing (GA 97 p.521 note).

Controversy

When the transcripts were first published in 2014,[2][3] they were edited by Peter Trawny. The notebooks contain explicitly antisemitic content,[2] reigniting the debate about Heidegger's Nazism and its relationship to his philosophical project. Critics of this claim have countered it by pointing to the sketchbook character of the Black Notebooks and the intention of the author for them to remain private and unpublished ruminations on the cultural and philosophical ideas received via time and place. Others have cited an antisemitism that does not qualify as racial, social, interpersonal or political, but rather exists only in a certain use of received concepts and German philosophical commentary up to his time.

Jesús Adrián Escudero argues in "Heidegger's Black Notebooks and the Question of Anti-Semitism" that "In Heidegger's case, it is a type of anti-Semitism that could be qualified as "religious," "cultural," or "spiritual." In a letter to Hannah Arendt, in which he comments on the rumors about his anti-Semitism, it reads: "As to the rest, in matters related to the university I am as much an anti-Semite as I was ten years ago in Marburg. This anti-Semitism even found the support of Jacobstahl and Friedländer. This has nothing to do with personal relationships (for example, Husserl, Misch, Cassirer and others)." When Heidegger speaks of "Judaization" (Verjudung), he does so from a given cultural context".

Published Volumes

Heidegger, Martin (2014). Peter Trawny (ed.). Überlegungen II-VI (Schwarze Hefte 1931–1938). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 94. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3-465-03815-3.

Heidegger, Martin (2014). Peter Trawny (ed.). Überlegungen VII-XI (Schwarze Hefte 1938/39). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 95. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3-465-03833-7.

Heidegger, Martin (2014). Peter Trawny (ed.). Überlegungen XII-XV (Schwarze Hefte 1939–1941). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 96. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3-465-03839-9.

Heidegger, Martin (2015). Peter Trawny (ed.). Anmerkungen I-V (Schwarze Hefte 1942–1948). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 97. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3-465-03870-2.

Heidegger, Martin (2018). Peter Trawny (ed.). Anmerkungen VI–IX ("Schwarze Hefte" 1948/49–1951). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 98. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann.

Heidegger, Martin (2019). Peter Trawny (ed.). Vier Hefte I und II (“Schwarze Hefte” 1947–1950). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 99. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann.

Heidegger, Martin (2020). Peter Trawny (ed.). Vigiliae und Notturno (“Schwarze Hefte”1952/53 bis 1957). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 100. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3-465-01121-7.

Notes
  1. Jonathan Rée (12 March 2014). "In defence of Heidegger". Prospect. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  2. Paul Hockenos (24 February 2014). "Release of Heidegger's 'Black Notebooks' Reignites Debate Over Nazi Ideology". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  3. Philip Oltermann (13 March 2014). "Heidegger's 'black notebooks' reveal antisemitism at the core of his philosophy". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
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