Heidegger: German Idealism and Ecstatic Temporality

Abstract

The article discusses the significance of Hegel’s and especially Schelling’s concepts for the formation of Heidegger’s conceptions of Being and ecstatic time. It is argued that the authors of German Idealism began to think about the Absolute in temporal and historical terms, and that this set the stage for Heidegger’s historical and temporal understanding of Being. Crucially, negativity is included in the structure of Being. The ecstatic structure of Being and time itself is shaped by Schelling’s thought on the dialectic of ground and existence.