Abstract

Starting from Jacques Derrida’s indications about the theme of the secret, the article examines the Heideggerian notion of ‘Geheimnis’. Although standard interpretation emphasizes the link between the concept of ‘Geheimnis’ and that of concealment, or the problem of truth, it is shown in what sense it is appropriate to integrate the meaning of ‘Geheimnis’ by the later results of Heidegger’s thought. In this frame much greater attention is paid to the close relationship between ‘Geheimnis’ and the concept of world, which makes paradoxical any narrow reduction of ‘Geheimnis’ to notions such as enigma, mystery, secret.