Glossary of Epistemology/Philosophy of Science Book

Heidegger could be marked as a Greekofiel without much arguing. He states that the love for wisdom, philosophy, is a typical Greek endeavor. Since a lot of cultures have words for wisdom (sophia), like 'chokhmah' in Hebrew, such a statement can not be made before comparing content of this concept in different cultures.

That being said and clear in mind, it is a rather exciting little text. In answering the question 'what is - philosophy?' he goes back to the incentive why the Greeks start philosophizing, the 'pathos' of the philosophy. According to Heidegger this pathos was the wondering about the being of beings. That being is.

The question he asks us, what makes us start philosophizing now. He places emphasis on the modern turn to uncertainty as pathos for philosophizing, so that the practice became a search for certain knowledge, illustrated by Decartes cogito ergo sum as answer in the search for absolute certainty.

This modern pathos of uncertainty has two results. On the one hand you get stubborn fundamentalist, on the other hand people become apathetic. That sounds like a good description of the difference between two dominant groups in modern day culture.

And that is why I like Heidegger. He has the power to go from the most abstract and genealogical way of thinking right to the point of how we think today. The question - What is - philosophy? can only be answered when we know our pathos.