Generation Existential: Heidegger's Philosophy in France, 1927–1961

About the Book

When we think of Heidegger's influence in France, we tend to focus on such contemporary thinkers as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Jean-Francois Lyotard. In Generation Existential, Ethan Kleinberg shifts the focus to the initial reception of Heidegger's philosophy in France by those who first encountered it. Kleinberg explains the appeal of Heidegger's philosophy to French thinkers, as well as the ways they incorporated and expanded on it in their own work through the interwar, Second World War, and early postwar periods. In so doing, Kleinberg offers new insights into intellectual figures whose influence on modern French philosophy has been enormous, including some whose thought remains under-explored outside France. Among Kleinberg's "generation existential" are Jean Beaufret, the only member of the group whom one could characterize as "a Heideggerian"; Maurice Blanchot; Alexandre Kojeve; Emmanuel Levinas; and Jean-Paul Sartre. In showing how each of these figures engaged with Heidegger, Kleinberg helps us to understand how the philosophy of this right-wing thinker had such a profound influence on intellectuals of the left. Furthermore, Kleinberg maintains that our view of Heidegger's influence on contemporary thought is contingent on our comprehension of the ways in which his philosophy was initially understood, translated, and incorporated into the French philosophical canon by this earlier generation.

About the Author :
Ethan Kleinberg is Professor of History and Letters at Wesleyan University and Executive Editor of History and Theory. He is the author of Generation Existential: Heidegger's Philosophy in France, 1927-1961 and coeditor of Presence: Philosophy, History, and Cultural Theory for the Twenty-First Century, both from Cornell.

Review :
"A compelling account of the peaceful invasion of contemporary French theory by the German existentialist whose legacy remains tainted by his support for National Socialism. Kleinberg's account unfolds through individual portraits of the intriguing personalities-Emmanuel Levinas, Alexandre Koyre, Alexandre Kojeve, Raymond Aron, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Beaufret, and Maurice Blanchot-whose interrogation of subjectivity and alterity, ontology and historicity, and freedom and responsibility were powerfully influenced by Heidegger's thinking. Kleinberg's rigorous examination of the translation of Heidegger's concepts and questions into the French context explores how the 'generation of 1933' became 'generation existential.'"-Jonathan Judaken, American Historical Review, October 2006 "Like the foreign irritant that causes oysters to secrete pearls, Heidegger stimulated successive generations of French thinkers to produce some of their most creative ideas. Ethan Kleinberg painstakingly reconstructs the existentialist moment in that still unfolding story, providing lucid and persuasive accounts of the impact of Heidegger's philosophy as inspiration and foil when it first crossed the Rhine. Generation Existential will be of interest not only to intellectual historians but also to anyone still grappling with the legacy of Sartre, Kojeve, Blanchot, and Levinas."-Martin Jay, Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley "Ethan Kleinberg's study of the successive waves in the reception and rethinking of Heidegger in France covers a crucial chapter in modern French thought and contemporary critical theory. His lucid and careful exposition, which includes a discussion of the problems posed to French thinkers by National Socialism and the Shoah, provides a basis for an informed, critical reexamination of this important dimension of recent intellectual history. He also elucidates how responses to Heidegger have always been more or less intricate and coded responses to larger social, political, and ethical issues, including one's conception of the very foundation of a secular democracy."-Dominick LaCapra, Cornell University, author of History in Transit: Experience, Identity, Critical Theory "Ethan Kleinberg has written an important book on Heidegger's French reception that spans the influence of the German philosopher on French thinkers from Alexandre Kojeve to Maurice Blanchot. Kleinberg's systematic overview of this crucial chapter in the history of French existentialism and its broader impact explores the complex ways in which French philosophers appropriated Heidegger to counter the French postwar intellectual establishment and adapted him to address their own specific priorities. In demonstrating how Heidegger became not quite 'French,' Kleinberg illuminates several recent debates on a wide variety of topics, including French debate over Heidegger's Nazism."-Carolyn J. Dean, Brown University, author of The Fragility of Empathy after the Holocaust