Symbolic Interpretation of the Image of Goethe’s Faust in the Context of Heidegger’s Notions "The Earth" and "The Sky"

Abstract

Hermeneutic acquisition of the ontological point of M. Heidegger's works allows us to comprehend the representation of Goethe's Faust in the light of Heidegger's notions "the earth" and "the sky". Thus we can define the image of Faust as a way of a Western personality who rationally came to terms with the mankind threat Gestell (enframing) of civilization and finally attempted to come to his natural self. The article deals with the symbolic interpretation of the representation of Goethe's Faust in the light of Heidegger's notions "the earth" and "the sky", which reveals the ontological point of the romantic binar opposition "the earth" - "the sky", specifying that a person is a universal essence (a “worldly character”), connected in his Being with the earth and the sky, he is a part of a whole and receives his sense in his existence. It is well known, that Heidegger applied to Goethe's theories, trying to solve ontological problems. Hermeneutic perception of Goethe's oeuvre in the light of Heidegger's pre-understanding, interpreted as a "poetic touch of truth", leads to conceptualization of Faust's way as a search for truth and the possibility of "returning home" (M.Heidegger).

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s5p43