Heidegger’s Philosophy of God

 

Was Heidegger an Atheist?

At first glance, many people assume that Heidegger was an atheist because his philosophy in Being and Time seems to focus only on finite and temporal existence—meaning, human life is limited by time, and there is no discussion of an eternal, infinite being like God.

Heidegger suggests that anything eternal and infinite might not even “exist” in the way we understand existence, because all existence is bound by time. If something is truly outside time, it might be beyond our understanding—almost like “Nothing” (Nichts).

However, Heidegger himself denied being an atheist. In his Letter on Humanism (1947), he clarified that his philosophy neither affirms nor denies the existence of God. He argued that his existential analysis of human beings (Dasein) was simply not the right framework to answer the question of God.

Was Heidegger Indifferent to God?

If Heidegger was not an atheist, does that mean he simply didn’t care about God? Was he indifferent?

Again, the answer is no. He was deeply interested in the question of the divine, but he believed that modern human beings were too preoccupied with worldly matters to truly engage with the question of God.

According to Heidegger:

  • Modern people are constantly engaged in their daily lives, careers, technology, and ambitions.
  • This makes them unaware of deeper, spiritual realities.
  • It is not that God is “dead” (as Nietzsche suggested), but rather that modern man no longer listens for the divine.

However, Heidegger did not lose hope. He believed that the world is waiting for a new revelation of the divine. He saw poets, especially Friedrich Hölderlin, as people who expressed glimpses of the divine through their art.

Link for Video: https://youtu.be/zLboWjrHR4Q

Link for PPT: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q6Px06SxQ84yTqxzBc0zjt5qVuocuBV2/view?usp=sharing

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