Abstract

WHO IS THE LIBERATOR? IDEALISM AND REALISM - PERSPECTIVES ON PLATO'S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE IN LØGSTRUP AND HEIDEGGERWhen Danish theologian and philosopher K E. Løgstrup followed Heidegger’s lectures On theEssence of Truth in 1933-34, he encountered an interpretation of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave that influenced his view on the dangers of idealism, thus shaping what became a central theme in his works, the importance of realism and to focus on what is concrete. This article explores two main areas: Løgstrup’s concept of understanding and its relation to disclosure and revelation, and Heidegger’s interpretation of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave – as found in Løgstrup’s own notes in his posthumous manuscripts – and this interpretation’s link to Nazism. To Løgstrup, philosophy and theology must concern itself with life inside the cave, the reality of our human existence, because doctrines concerning life outside the cave lead to the dangers of idealism.