Tag Archives: biography

When one of his students dared to ask Martin Heidegger if he could tell him something about the life of Aristotle, Heidegger mockingly answered: ”Aristotle was born, he worked, he died.” This denial to acknowledge the relevance of biography for philosophy is ironic to say the least. There are hardly any philosophers whose works were as noticeably influenced by personal events as his own. Moreover, this rejection of biography is inconsistent with other aspects of his philosophy.