The ups and downs of criticism in Nietzsche and Heidegger

Abstract

This paper addresses the question whether it could be maintained, and, in which sense, that Nietzsche’s and Heidegger’s thoughts are critical. According to the actual prevailing philosophical doxa, this question has developed into a proof to such an extent that the theoretical production of these authors seems to settle the rules of what currently is accepted as a critical thought. An important claim of these authors is here pursued, namely, the corrosion of those evidences which give consistency to both our identity and our experience of the present, stressing the manner by means of which Nietzsche and Heidegger are presented as paradigms of criticism (that is, the criticism of modernity above all). I will put forward the acting model of criticism on both authors in order to find whether that model is productive or not nowadays. I pretend thus, to contribute to the discussion about the conception and procedure of criticism that is pertinent to our time.