I hate Martin Heidegger. By all means, read him. He sucks qua philosopher, but read him as you wish.
Over the past several years there’s been tsunami of changes to the philosophy cannon to include philosophers who were disenfranchised. Meanwhile, philosophers like Heidegger have been cancelled because he was a Nazi supporter.
As all this has been going on, I gave my copy of the first English translation of “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler to another antiquarian as a gift. I bought it at my favorite bookstore 20 years ago when it was legal to buy and sell. It still should be, as far as I’m concerned.
I’m guessing Hitler is worse to read than one of his supporters according to cancel culture. However, I studied ethics and political philosophy, and those deal with evil.
Evil, as it were, is important to understand. Most ethicists deal exclusively with ‘the good’.
I spent around 10 years studying evil. At this point, a book by Heidegger would be a waste of my money, space in my home, and not worth my time. However, you may be on a different (non-Nazi, we hope) path.
Just as the expert in me of Native American Philosophy read the journals of Columbus, there may be people who need to read Heidegger for the legitimate work.
I’ll leave you with my citation from which I’ve built upon: A talk by Dr. Daniel Callcut at the National Gallery in London.
In summation: Do Read Heidegger. Don’t Make Him Your Hero. Just as you may view Gauguin’s artwork while not being inspired by the man, and quite possibly, the work.
