Abstract

In his work Brief uber den Humanismus, Martin Heidegger speaks of a growing crisis in the human condition in the modern world. He refers to this under the metaphor of "homelessness." Heidegger regards "homelessness" as the more fundamental cause of what Nietzsche identified as "nihilism" and of what Marx identified as "alienation" . Heidegger also presents an account of what will remedy "homelessness." The purpose of my dissertation is to explain and analyze Heidegger's account of the nature of homelessness and how he sees that homelessness can be overcome. ;Understanding Heidegger's account of homelessness properly involves understanding his later philosophy. The latter has been poorly understood in much of the secondary Heidegger literature. The key to understanding Heidegger's later philosophy lies in understanding his idea of Being as "Ereignis " . I provide a detailed explanation of this. ;Heidegger regards the nature of Being itself as the fundamental nature of reality, of "whatever-is" or "beings" . We grasp the nature of Being through a direct, non-arbitrary phenomenological experience achieved via "meditative thinking," which Heidegger regards as more fundamental than reason. ;Through the experience of Being, Heidegger contends, we come to a direct, non-arbitrary experience of the nature of God. But this understanding of God differs from that achieved via rational theology, which Heidegger sees, following Nietzsche, has been discredited by modern science. The understanding of God reached through the experience of Being Heidegger calls: the "Ultimate God." ;The moment in which one experiences Being and the Ultimate God Heidegger calls: the "Ereignis." I show how Heidegger's account parallels accounts presented by Plotinus and Meister Eckhart, respectively. ;I explain how, to Heidegger, the insights achieved via Ereignis are to provide the insights by which humanity may overcome "homelessness"---and thus alienation and nihilism. I conclude that while elements of Heidegger's account of meditative thinking appear epistemically possible, and so his solution to homelessness may thus be plausible, his account stands in need of being supplemented by rational argumentation