On home (das Heim) and the uncanny (das Unheimliche) in Heidegger

ABSTRACT
This paper aims to argue, that the question of home (das Heim) is one of the crucial elements
of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy, which has been tackled by the German philosopher
throughout his life work in close connection to its opposition, namely the uncanny (das
Unheimliche). The paper discusses the different understandings of home in Heidegger’s
philosophy, starting from seminal works such as Being and Time (1927), including The
Introduction to Metaphysics (1935) and Hölderlin’s Hymn »The Ister« (1942), and The Letter
on Humanism (1946) including Building Dwelling Thinking (1951). In his argumentation on
the topic from 1935 on, Heidegger has developed the question of home within the
hermeneutical analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone, specifically the first verse of the Choral song.
In the conclusion, the standpoint of Jacques Derrida and Farrel David Krell on the subject are
confronted, to discuss the paradoxical structure of the topic of home in Heidegger’s
philosophy and largely within the philosophy of architecture.
Keywords: home (das Heim), Martin Heidegger, das Unheimliche, uncanny, Antigone

Published in: Phainomena, glasilo Fenomenološkega društva v Ljubljani = bulletin of Association for
Phenomenology. – ISSN 1318-3362 (Letn. 31, št. 120/121, jun. 2022, str. 121-145)

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