In March 1929, two of the best-known philosophers in Europe went head to head in debate at a conference in Davos, Switzerland. This episode, says Wolfram Eilenberger, was a “contest between two fundamentally opposed visions of the development of modern human beings.” On one side was the urbane, gentle Ernst Cassirer, who proposed what Mr. Eilenberger calls “moderating continuity”; on the other, the charismatic, aggressive Martin Heidegger, who called for a “total break with the past.”The clash opens and closes Mr. Eilenberger’s...

Source: Wall Street Journal August 14, 2020 22:07 UTC