Technology, Art, and Second Order Nihilism in Heidegger

Abstract

This paper explores Heidegger’s juxtaposition of art and technology from the angle of the nihilism issue. After sketching reasons and aims of Heidegger’s turn to poetry I interpret this juxtaposition in terms of a core deontological dichotomy between the metaphysical-technological and the poetic-destinal forms of subjectivity and their relationship to the world, aimed at overcoming the extreme danger of contemporary nihilism. Finally, I highlight the danger of an even more threatening second order nihilism implicit in this dichotomy.