Black Notebooks

The Black Notebooks (German: Schwarze Hefte) are a set of 34 notebooks written by German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) between 1931 and 1970. 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] There are nine volumes published (see below); from GA 94, 1931-1928 until the final volume GA 102, 1963-1970.

Peter Trawny has edited the transcripts and publishing them in the Gesamtausgabe (GA). The first transcript was published in 2014. The notebooks from 1942 to 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). As of the 2022, Martin Heidegger’s Vorläufiges I–IV [ Preliminaries] was just published as GA 102; and according the Klostermann in their published notes (GA 102) this is the last of the Black Notebooks (total of 34 notebooks, published as nine volumes, 3449 pages).  According to Peter Trawny the editor in 2015 “In addition, two further booklets with the titles "Megiston" and "Grundworte” [basic words] were found in the DLA Marbach archives. Whether and how they belong to the "Black Books" has yet to be clarified”. (GA 97, page 521). Heidegger himself mentions Grundworte in the text (GA 99, page 64); and then Peter Trawny (2019) says in a footnote at the bottom of the page, “publication nothing has been decided yet” (GA 99, page 64). Published by Vittorio Klostermann. From the publisher's notes about the last volume published GA 102, "Instead, a surprising preoccupation with "cybernetics," "industrial society," and even the "computer" emerges. The penultimate entry of the notebooks, written in a handwriting that is difficult to decipher, defines "thinking" as "an inaudible conversation with the escaped gods". (entflohenen Göttern).

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". Heidegger writes in his defense, "The rumors that are upsetting you are slanders that are perfect matches for other experiences I have endured over the last few years." Letters, 1925-1975 Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger; translated from the German by Andrew Shields. Letter #45, Winter 1932-33.” Page 52-53.  See the following interview with Silvio Vietta who knew Heidegger personally. Interview with Silvio Vietta in Deutschlandradio Kultur: Antisemitismus-Debatte um Martin Heidegger online here. January 23, 2014


January 23, 2014

Published volumes

Heidegger, Martin (2014). Peter Trawny (ed.). Überlegungen II-VI (Schwarze Hefte 1931–1938). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Vol. 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. Vol. 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. Vol. 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. Vol. 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. Vol. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 98. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann.

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

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

Heidegger, Martin (2020). Peter Trawny (ed.). Winke I und II (Schwarze Hefte 1957–1959). Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Vol. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 101. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3-465-01734-9.

Heidegger, Martin (2021). Peter Trawny (ed.). Vorlaufiges I-IV: Schwarze Hefte 1963 -1970. Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Vol. Martin Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 102. Verlag Vittorio Klostermann. ISBN 978-3465026877.

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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