Heidegger's reticence: From contributions to Das Ereignis and toward Gelassenheit

Abstract

Using as guiding thread the difference between being (beyng) and beings, this article traces and questions the movement of Heidegger's thinking in his non-public writings from Contributions to Philosophy (1936-38) to The Event (1941-42) and ends with references to the thought of Gelassenheit (1944/45). In 1941-42 this movement takes the form of a "downgoing" into the abyssal, withdrawing dimension of being. Heidegger rethinks the event in terms of inception (Anfang) as he attempts to let go of any form of representational thinking more radically than in Contributions and seeks to respond in imageless saying to nothing but the silent call of beyng. Heidegger's downgoing brings with it a transformed relation to history and to what he calls "machination," as well as a shift from dispositions marked by decision, strife, and endurance to thinking in terms of releasing, following, and thanking.