“Destruction” of Tradition in Heidegger’s Works before the “Turn”

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the formation and development of the concept of phe­nomenological destruction from Heidegger’s early lecture courses to Being and Time. We analyze the introduction of the term “destruction” in the lecture courses of the 1920s (The Basic Problems of Phenomenology, Phenomenology of Contemplation and Expression, Introduction to the Phenomenology of Reli­gion, Augustine and Neoplatonism). At this time Heidegger understands destruc­tion in two senses. “Destruction” as “phenomenological critique” refers to a way of critically examining of particular philosophical positions by tracing their basic problematics in intellectual history. “Destruction” in the second sense is pre­sented as an integral element of the phenomenological method, which makes it possible to strip away the self-evidence of commonly used concepts and expres­sions and to rediscover what is “authentic” in traditional categories. The relation­ship between “destruction” and the Heidegger’s interpretation of history is con­sidered. The historicity of Dasein, which funds the modes of appropriation of tradition is seen as a precondition for “destruction”. It is shown that Heideg­ger’s critique is not directed at tradition, but at the ways in which tradition is ap­propriated by modern intellectual discourse. In Being and Time “destruction” provides authentic ways of accessing phenomena and involves an attempt to re­lease possibilities from the past for the future