“Language is the house of being. Language is the clearing and concealing of being.”
—
Martin Heidegger
Letter on Humanism (1947); Poetry, Language, Thought (1971)
Commentary
In his later work, Heidegger shifts from transcendental phenomenology toward a meditation on language, poetry, and art as modes of truth-disclosure. Language is not merely a tool for expressing pre-existing thoughts; it shapes what can be thought and revealed.
This aphoristic formulation suggests that Being itself comes to presence through language. The poet and thinker are especially attuned to language's revealing power. This influenced post-structuralism and contemporary philosophy of language.
Commentary
In his later work, Heidegger shifts from transcendental phenomenology toward a meditation on language, poetry, and art as modes of truth-disclosure. Language is not merely a tool for expressing pre-existing thoughts; it shapes what can be thought and revealed.
This aphoristic formulation suggests that Being itself comes to presence through language. The poet and thinker are especially attuned to language's revealing power. This influenced post-structuralism and contemporary philosophy of language.