A Deep Dive (NotebookLM) conversation about Heidegger's concept of Das Geviert (the Fourfold).

"The Fourfold: Reading the Late Heidegger" by Andrew J. Mitchell examines the fourfold (das Geviert) as a central motif in Heidegger's later philosophy. Mitchell argues that the fourfold represents a shift from Heidegger's earlier focus on Dasein in Being and Time to a broader conception of things as relational and open. Here's a summary of the key concepts discussed in the text:
 
The Fourfold: The fourfold is introduced as a gathering of earth, sky, mortals, and divinities. It represents a way of understanding things not as isolated objects but as interconnected within a network of relations. This concept is seen as a development of Heidegger's thought beyond his earlier work. The fourfold is meant to recover the trace of the thing in the midst of "positionality."

Positionality (das Gestell): Mitchell interprets the technological essence (das Gestell) as "positionality," emphasizing it as an active way of being rather than a framework. Positionality is the way of being in the technological age, where things are seen as available for consumption and replacement. In this view, things are reduced to "pieces" without a whole, and are constantly displaced. Positionality is inseparable from the fourfold and provides the basis from which the fourfold is to be thought.

Critique of Technology: The text explains that the technological mindset reduces things to "standing reserve" (das Bestand), where they are always available for use and have no inherent value. This is seen as a one-sidedness that forgets being as the medium of appearance.

Earth: The earth is not just a material substance but is the ground of the world, an attunement that intertwines appearance and meaning. The earth is also understood as a withdrawal of the ground of the world.

Sky: The sky is the medium of interplay between the hours of the day and the seasons of the year, and is the trace of darkness in the midst of light and light in the midst of darkness.

Divinities: Divinities are messengers bearing meaningfulness into things. They are understood as the gesture of mediation between humans and meaningfulness. The text also mentions the "last God" who is always arriving but never fully present.

Mortals: The text explains that the later Heidegger shifts the sense of the human from being to dying, referring to humans as "die Sterbliche." Mortality is understood as an opening to the world rather than a removal from it. The community of mortals is the original nexus of relations upon which societies are built.

The Thing: The thing is not a substantive object but a mirror-play, a relationality without independent relata. The thing is slight and its essence has been forgotten. Thinking in relation to the thing is called 'Andenken', which is a way of thinking the non-presence of things from where they begin their presencing.

Granting The arrival of the thing beckons to its granting, where granting is at the same time the challenge of technological replaceability.

Dwelling: Dwelling is understood as exposure to others and to the radiance of things, and it is connected to mortality and language. Dwelling is seen as a way of saying "yes" to open exposure and "no" to the self-enclosure of technological positionality.

The Essence of the Thing: The essence of the thing has been forgotten, which is why, the text claims, things have never yet been as things.





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"Dare to use your own reason" - Immanuel Kant