Another step, another direction : a response to Zizek’s ‘Why Heidegger made the right step in 1933’

If, against all odds, and following Žižek’s suggestion, we wish to consider the possibility of turning to Heidegger’s politics, and to his stance with respect to the political, in a manner that is productive, such a possibility can only stem from the radical and revolutionary nature of his thought alone, from the original task that he set for thought. Inasmuch as, like Heidegger himself, Žižek believes there is always more in a thought than its actuality, we are faced with the possibility – and in fact, according to Žižek, the necessity – to repeat the still untapped and politically progressive resources of Heidegger’s thought. However we may wish to identify and present such resources, we must first face the fact that Heidegger’s thought is first and foremost non-political. This doesn’t mean that it is simply a-political, or without any political relevance whatsoever. Rather, it means that everything Heidegger says about politics, or that can be seen to resonate with our political situation, is articulated from a position or a space that is itself not political, a space that, furthermore, defines and decides the essence of politics. Everything that Heidegger says on politics amounts to calling it into question, that is, our investment in it, and the assumptions that govern it