"We still by no means think decisively enough about the essence of action"
About this Quote
Heidegger’s line isn’t a gentle reminder to be more “thoughtful.” It’s an accusation: modernity, he implies, is busy doing things without knowing what doing is. The barb lands because it targets a deep cultural reflex - the faith that action is self-justifying, that effectiveness equals meaning, that any pause is indulgence. For Heidegger, that’s not just a personal flaw; it’s a metaphysical habit.
The specific intent is to pry “action” away from the common picture of it as sheer output: making, producing, intervening, fixing. In his vocabulary, this is the dominance of a technical mindset that treats the world as material to be managed and people as bundles of functions. When we don’t “think decisively enough” about action’s essence, we default to a concept of action that’s already rigged: action as control, as will, as measurable impact.
The subtext is also self-indicting: even philosophy, which prides itself on reflection, can become another kind of production line - concepts manufactured to “explain” reality while missing the lived structure of being-in-the-world. Heidegger’s provocation suggests that genuine action may not be the loudest kind. It might include restraint, waiting, listening, letting things appear before forcing them into use.
Context matters: writing in a Europe electrified by industrial modernity and political mobilization, Heidegger is watching “action” become a sacred word in mass politics and technological progress. His sentence reads like an early warning about a culture addicted to decisiveness, mistaking speed for truth and motion for freedom.
The specific intent is to pry “action” away from the common picture of it as sheer output: making, producing, intervening, fixing. In his vocabulary, this is the dominance of a technical mindset that treats the world as material to be managed and people as bundles of functions. When we don’t “think decisively enough” about action’s essence, we default to a concept of action that’s already rigged: action as control, as will, as measurable impact.
The subtext is also self-indicting: even philosophy, which prides itself on reflection, can become another kind of production line - concepts manufactured to “explain” reality while missing the lived structure of being-in-the-world. Heidegger’s provocation suggests that genuine action may not be the loudest kind. It might include restraint, waiting, listening, letting things appear before forcing them into use.
Context matters: writing in a Europe electrified by industrial modernity and political mobilization, Heidegger is watching “action” become a sacred word in mass politics and technological progress. His sentence reads like an early warning about a culture addicted to decisiveness, mistaking speed for truth and motion for freedom.
Quote Details
| Topic | Free Will & Fate |
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