Studia Phaenomenologica

Volume 11, 2011

Concepts of Tradition in Phenomenology

Thomas Arne Winter
Pages 99-115

Verdeckungsgeschichte. Heideggers phänomenologische Traditionskritik

Heidegger’s phenomenological critique of tradition shows tradition as a history of covering-up, which can be analysed in respect to different modes of covering-up: (1) the hiddenness of alternative interpretations, (2) the burying-over of the origin, (3) the disguise of Dasein and the world, (4) the falling as an existential covering-up. Destruction and the handing down to oneself are two possibilities of uncovering the covering-ups by means of repetition. Although Heidegger’s understanding of tradition proves to be one-sided, it is fruitful for an acknowledgement of the phenomenological ambivalence that is essential to tradition.