Criticism of Heidegger

Heidegger seems to think that modern man, particularly the man or woman who does not speak German, has lost sight of the true essence of things.  He sees things as "ready at hand", simply a tool to be appropriated and used rather than seeing them in all their beauty.  He recommends a passivity, an openness, a willingness to let things be as they are, rather than as things to be used.  And this passivity, this openess, will enable one to live authentically.   And of course it is better to be authentic than to be inauthentic.

A problem with this.  The essence of many things is man made.  The essence of a thing is to a large extent determined by its use.  Take a chair.  When is it no longer a chair?  When it can no longer be sat on? Not quite.  We can sit on a stool, and a stool is not a chair.  What differentiates a chair from a stool is that a chair has a back.   And you learn this through being taught it.  It is determined in large part by culture, custom.  Some tribes never had chairs. And three hundred years ago, a member of such a tribe would not know the difference between a chair and a stool.  But my point is that the use of a chair is fairly central to its essence.  Now, it may be a perfectly beautiful chair, and it is possible that if we became too lost in our activities and thoughts we would not realize how beautiful it is.  But there are unappealing and decrepit chairs as well.  And the beauty or ugliness of a chair is not what makes it a chair.

Sure.  It can be helpful and healthy to take a deep breath and recognize how wonderful the universe is, and how fortunate we are to be alive.  But does that make us authentic?  Does that make us better persons?  Should we all live lives of contemplation?  Society would not be able to function if we did.  There would be nobody to take out the garbage, to take out the garbage, to hang the clothes.  And Heidegger did, to a large extent, practice what he preached, living out much of his life in the Black Forest.   The problem was that he was doing so while the Nazis were slaughtering millions of people.  And he knew how wicked they were.  A number of his associates, such as Husserl and Hannah Arendt, were Jewish.  But Heidegger chose to be authentic and live in the Black Forest.  There is nothing wrong with taking a vacation, but you're a citizen of the world as well.