GF Colloquium: Simon Truwant

The next GF colloquium will be given by Simon Truwant from KU Leuven. The talk will be followed by drinks and dinner. Please email Corijn van Mazijn (c.van.mazijk rug.nl) if you wish to join for drinks and/or dinner.

What makes a philosophical debate? Thinking through Cassirer and Heidegger’s Davos debate

Dr. Simon Truwant, KU Leuven

The 1929 encounter between Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger in Davos, Switzerland is considered one of the most important intellectual debates of the 20th century and a founding moment of continental philosophy. At the same time, many commentators have questioned the philosophical profundity and coherence of the debate. In a new comprehensive philosophical analysis of the Davos debate, I challenge these critiques. I argue that Cassirer and Heidegger’s disagreement centers around three correlated issues of increasing importance for their thinking: the meaning of Kant’s philosophy, the human condition, and the task of philosophy. On this basis, it becomes clear that Cassirer and Heidegger share a grand philosophical concern: to comprehend and aid the human being’s capacity to orient itself within and towards the world. This new understanding of the Davos debate invites further reflection about what constitutes a philosophical disagreement.