Heidegger’s Interpretation of Paul: The Care of the Self and Others in the Proto-Christian Experience of Life

This paper is part of a wider re-interpretation of Heidegger’s ethical thought, primarily through the lens of Michel Foucault’s con- cepts of “Care of Self and Others”. Contrary to past interpretations, it is well-known today how Heidegger has widely explored ethical-political themes – such as the nature of political “community” (koinonía) in Aristotle and Saint Paul – in his early University courses. One of the most emblematic cases is that of the lectures held in Freiburg during the Winter semester of 1920-1921 entitled Introduction to Phenomenology of Religion, dedicated to an interpretation of early Christianity and the proto-Christian experience of life starting from the Letters of Paul – particularly the two Letters to the Thessalonians. This religious context highlights a very peculiar form of care of the self, which can be primarily understood as “care for the divine” – and also sheds a more comprehensible light on Heidegger’s later view on global Technik.