Heidegger's Parmenides Lecture on Being, Language, and the Typewriter

Gallimard has published Martin Heidegger's "Parménide," a lecture course from winter 1942-1943 that meditates on the pre-Socratic didactic poem by Parmenides. Heidegger argues that Western thought must think "even more Greek" what was thought in Greek, emphasizing that language (parole) is the foundation of human essence and that being speaks through language. He traces the history of Western philosophy from Greek thinkers—Heraclitus, Plato, Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Pindar, Aristotle—to moderns like Hegel, Nietzsche, Kant, Descartes, Hölderlin, and Fichte. A striking section anticipates contemporary concerns: Heidegger claims that the typewriter (writing machine) tears writing from the essence of the hand, which is itself tied to speech and being. He warns that machine writing degrades language into mere communication, makes all men alike, and signals a mutation in the relationship between being and humanity. The philosopher suggests that technology is not a neutral tool but a metaphysical instrument that obscures being, leading to a profound forgetfulness of being. He critiques superficial philosophies of technology that treat humans and machines as separate entities, ignoring how being itself already decides the relation between humans and technology. The book is presented as one of the best introductions to Heidegger's thought.