Abstract
This paper critically examines Heidegger’s 1959 dialogue, A Conversation from [von] Language – Between a Japanese and an Inquirer, across three distinct levels: as (1) a cross-cultural comparative exchange, (2) a meta-philosophical/ontological analysis of the fundamental relation between language and thought, and (3) a methodological inquiry into the phenomenology and hermeneutics of conversation. Despite the problematic nature of Heidegger’s explicit comparative engagement, I contend that his questioning of the possibility of “a conversation from house to house” provides a substantial clarification of the meta-philosophical difficulties inherent in comparative and cross-cultural philosophy. At the same time, his thinking with respect to hermeneutics provides a methodological clue to the possibility of and the normative conditions for understanding across such cultural differences.
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Park, B.D. Differing ways, Dao and Weg: Comparative, metaphysical, and methodological considerations in Heidegger’s “Aus einem Gespräch von der Sprache”. Cont Philos Rev 37, 309–339 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-004-3144-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-004-3144-4