What will I learn about: how the legendary 1929 Davos dispute between Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer mirrored the extreme cultural and political polarization of the 1920s?

Understand how the legendary 1929 Davos dispute between Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer mirrored the extreme cultural and political polarization of the 1920s.

What will I learn about: why Martin Heidegger believed that achieving true authenticity and living life to the fullest requires fearlessly confronting our own mortality?

Discover why Martin Heidegger believed that achieving true authenticity and living life to the fullest requires fearlessly confronting our own mortality.

What will I learn about: Learn how Ernst Cassirer’s humanist approach defines humanity by our unique ability to transform everyday experiences into empowering cultural symbols like art, science, and religion?

Learn how Ernst Cassirer’s humanist approach defines humanity by our unique ability to transform everyday experiences into empowering cultural symbols like art, science, and religion.

What will I learn about: Explore two radically different views on philosophy's purpose: Heidegger's drive to expose the harsh truths of existence versus Cassirer's goal to uplift and liberate us from fear?

Explore two radically different views on philosophy's purpose: Heidegger's drive to expose the harsh truths of existence versus Cassirer's goal to uplift and liberate us from fear.

What will I learn about: how the groundbreaking ideas of 1920s philosophical heavyweights, from Walter Benjamin to Ludwig Wittgenstein, can help you navigate life's biggest existential questions today?

Find out how the groundbreaking ideas of 1920s philosophical heavyweights, from Walter Benjamin to Ludwig Wittgenstein, can help you navigate life's biggest existential questions today.

Time of the Magicians

Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy

Wolfram Eilenberger

★ 3.9 / 5(2,466 ratings on Goodreads)

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Categories:

History Philosophy

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Have you ever wondered why some of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century argued that the limits of your language are the actual limits of your reality?
💡Did you know that a single decade of chaos in Germany produced a radical new 'magic' for understanding what it truly means to be human?
💡Are you curious about how four eccentric thinkers managed to upend centuries of tradition to solve the deepest mysteries of existence?

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Key Takeaways from Time of the Magicians

✓Understand how the legendary 1929 Davos dispute between Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer mirrored the extreme cultural and political polarization of the 1920s.
✓Discover why Martin Heidegger believed that achieving true authenticity and living life to the fullest requires fearlessly confronting our own mortality.
✓Learn how Ernst Cassirer’s humanist approach defines humanity by our unique ability to transform everyday experiences into empowering cultural symbols like art, science, and religion.
✓Explore two radically different views on philosophy's purpose: Heidegger's drive to expose the harsh truths of existence versus Cassirer's goal to uplift and liberate us from fear.
✓Find out how the groundbreaking ideas of 1920s philosophical heavyweights, from Walter Benjamin to Ludwig Wittgenstein, can help you navigate life's biggest existential questions today.

Learning Tools

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Mind Map

Time of the Magicians

Historical Context+

The Davos Dispute (1929)+

Martin Heidegger+

Ernst Cassirer+

Ludwig Wittgenstein+

Walter Benjamin+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 10

What was the core philosophical disagreement between Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer during their 1929 Davos dispute?

A. Cassirer believed philosophy should confront us with our mortality, while Heidegger thought it should focus on political revolution.
B. Cassirer argued humans elevate themselves through cultural symbols, while Heidegger believed confronting fear and death is the basis of human experience.
C. Cassirer wanted to abolish academic philosophy entirely, while Heidegger sought to establish a strict, scientific approach to ethics.
D. Cassirer argued that language is a trap, while Heidegger believed language is the only path to scientific truth.

Question 2 of 10

According to Martin Heidegger, how can a human being achieve a state of 'authenticity'?

A. By creating artistic and cultural symbols to transcend their physical limitations.
B. By engaging in deep, passive observation of everyday mundane phenomena.
C. By confronting their metaphysical insignificance and accepting their inevitable mortality.
D. By mastering multiple languages to fully understand the human spirit.

Question 3 of 10

Which of the following best describes Ernst Cassirer's philosophical approach?

A. Reconciling all different forms of human knowledge and cultural symbols as equally valuable.
B. Demonstrating that human existence is fundamentally rooted in anxiety and dread.
C. Proving that the natural sciences are the only valid way to understand the physical world.
D. Exposing the fallacy of language and remaining silent on metaphysical issues.

Question 4 of 10

Why did Ludwig Wittgenstein conclude that academic philosophy was ultimately pointless?

A. He believed that political revolution was the only practical way to solve human problems.
B. He felt that the meaning of life could only be decoded through complex mathematical theories.
C. He decided that the natural sciences had successfully answered all of philosophy's historical questions.
D. He believed the mystery of human existence could not be solved by abstract thinking, but only revealed in moments of mortal danger.

Question 5 of 10

According to Walter Benjamin, how do humans attain true, deep knowledge?

A. Through rigorous scientific experimentation and linear logic.
B. Through a constant, transformative exchange between the observer and the observable world.
C. By pushing oneself into extreme physical hardships and existential crises.
D. By retreating into absolute isolation away from modern society.

Question 6 of 10

Despite their vast philosophical differences, what was one fundamental belief shared by Cassirer, Heidegger, Benjamin, and Wittgenstein?

A. Language is merely a basic tool for communicating scientific facts.
B. Language is the most fascinating human trait and an instrument used to shape the world.
C. Language is inherently flawed and should be entirely replaced by mathematical formulas.
D. Language is only useful when applied to political and economic critique.

Question 7 of 10

How did the four philosophers view the rise of modern natural sciences (such as Einstein's and Darwin's theories)?

A. All four embraced modern science as the ultimate replacement for outdated philosophical inquiry.
B. Cassirer was optimistic about science expanding human possibilities, while Heidegger, Benjamin, and Wittgenstein harbored a deep mistrust of it.
C. Heidegger and Wittgenstein championed scientific progress, while Cassirer and Benjamin rejected it as overly materialistic.
D. All four believed that natural science was a dangerous illusion that alienated humans from politics.

Question 8 of 10

How did Ernst Cassirer respond to the political turmoil and anti-democratic sentiment of the young Weimar Republic?

A. He advocated for a communist revolution inspired by his intellectual peers in Paris.
B. He retreated to a secluded cabin in the mountains to avoid the political chaos entirely.
C. He bravely defended the democratic republic, drawing on the philosophical legacy of Immanuel Kant.
D. He joined the National Socialists, believing they would restore order to a fractured Germany.

Question 9 of 10

Under the influence of Latvian actress Asja Lacis, how did Walter Benjamin's focus shift?

A. He shifted from observing art to becoming a subtle critic of capitalism and everyday phenomena.
B. He abandoned freelance journalism to become a formal academic professor of theology.
C. He stopped writing in German and began exclusively translating Russian poetry.
D. He rejected his bohemian lifestyle to embrace a measured, bourgeois existence.

Question 10 of 10

What metaphor did Ludwig Wittgenstein use to describe the human mind's inability to overcome its own hidden limitations?

A. A skier caught in a sudden, unavoidable avalanche.
B. A fly trapped in a glass jar unable to find its way out.
C. A resident hiding in a windowless iron house.
D. A shopper lost in a lavish, endless Parisian arcade.