Tuesday, April 14, 2009

" A Dialogue on Language"

It could be called "Dialogue in Search of an Experience with Language." It is clear from the start that they are after a different sort of philosophizing, one that will avoid forming concepts (the purview of traditional metaphysics, according to Heidegger), and somehow let language, as it is, be spoken through them. Notice how careful the two are in what they say and and what they don't say—where they leave off saying. The care they take with their words is reminiscent of the poet. According to Heidegger, philosophy should be spoken poetically. By that, he didn't mean that philosophy should be poetry, but rather that it should be spoken with the poet's sensitivity to how language works. In this dialogue, we find ourselves back in the neighborhood where poetry and thinking dwell near to one another, and find their common expression in saying. What Heidegger means by speaking (as saying) as a kind of listening is also very evident here. I think there are moments where their search for an experience with language is successful. What do you think?

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