Mimesis, art, and truth

pp. 79-104

in: Frank Schalow, Heidegger and the quest for the sacred, Berlin, Springer, 2001

Abstract

Just as the influences of Heidegger's mentors provide clues to his thought, so the observations of those he influenced—from Tillich to Gadamer, Rahner to Marcuse—prove equally enlightening. Tillich, who reformulated Heidegger's concept of being to offer a new vision of the Protestant experience of God, provides a unique example. For in writing two dissertations on Schelling that consider myth and guilt respectively, Tillich displays an important cross fertilization within contemporary theology.¹ Indeed, his theology suggests that Heidegger's project is not monolithic, but instead unfolds across many historical fronts. Moreover, Tillich offers a point of detachment or distance in terms of which to evaluate the evolutionary path of Heidegger's thought, to witness its breaks as well as its continuity.