Abstract

This introductory talk focuses on Heidegger’s late work, especially his 1959 collection of essays Unterwegs zur Sprache – On the way to language. My thesis is the following: Heidegger's late work marks a general shift from a metaphysical, i.e. a total, definite and centre-oriented description of the world, which is still present in Sein und Zeit, to a strictly situational ontology characterized by its openness, ambiguity and absence of centre. This constellation of our life-world is language, insofar language is the guiding, yet indefinite way of our involvement or engagement in open affairs. I spell out this main tenet by sketching what I call the situatedness, institutionality and responsiveness of language in the later Heidegger. These points are further developed in an essay project currently under review. © Adrian Wieczorek