Abstract

I explore Martin Heidegger’s figure of the last god found in his middle period of thinking from 1936–1939 centring my analysis on Contributions to Philosophy: Of the Event (Beiträge) and how this conception is messianic in nature. The last god is a particular instantiation of a being among beings rather than representing a literary or philosophical structure that lies ahead in the future. I emphasise the notion of the turning that occurs within Ereignis, a revived playfulness, wherein the lightning-flash (das Blitzen) appears as a trace or guide towards a new beginning. I conclude by investigating the historical and cultural ramifications that the arrival of the last god would have.