Speaking in Silence, Saying the Unsayable. An Approach to the Question of the Limits of Language in Martin Heidegger’s Early Work

Abstract

Remarking on the importance of silence in Martin Heidegger’s reflection on the question of being, this article proposes a possible interpretation of this motive in the unfolding of the existential analytic ofBeing and Time. Starting with a brief study of the comprehension of language expressed in this work, this essay considers the intimate bond between the becoming silent of being-there (Dasein) and the so called “propriety” (Eigentlichkeit) of its existence, which shows itself within the analysis of anxiety and the silent voice of conscience. The hermeneutical hypothesis raised will be related finally to the problem of formal indication and Heidegger’s interpretation of poetical saying, mainly focused on Hölderlin’s poetry, which began in the mid nineteen-thirties.