Politics, rootedness in the earth and technique in Martin Heidegger’s onto-historical thinking

The paper deals with the political aspects of Martin Heidegger’s thought, also tackling, albeit in a marginal way, some aspects connected to his relationship with National Socialism. To do so, the concepts of “rootedness in the earth” and “technique”, in particular, will be examined in the framework of Martin Heidegger’s so called “onto-historical thinking”, to which Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann has dedicated several interesting studies. First, the paper covers Martin Heidegger’s utter rejection of the National Socialist ideology, in spite of what his critics have variously claimed; Alfredo Marini’s important studies, besides the contributions of von Herrmann and Francesco Alfieri, were taken into particular consideration. Secondly, it introduces the concept of “onto-historical thinking” which Heidegger mostly developed in his Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis), in order to demonstrate its value in the field of political philosophy. Thirdly, “onto-historical thinking” was compared to “fundamental ontology”. Fourthly, following Martin Heidegger, the necessity to refound ontology is demonstrated to be the prerequisite in order to rethink politics: the concepts of “rootedness in the earth” (and of “uprooting”) are here considered. Fifthly, the concept of “earth” was analyzed, together with its philosophical-political value. Finally, the connection of all this to the key notion of technique was illustrated.