Heidegger’s Hermeneutics as “Anti-Platonism”: An Interpretation of the Cave Allegory

The article examines M. Heidegger's interpretation of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" from the Republic. At the beginning of the article, Heidegger's lectures related to Plato are introduced; then the author briefly indicates how Heidegger participated in the "struggle" for the interpretation of Plato and Aristotle between Neo-Kantians and phenomenologists. It is emphasized that Heidegger based his own Plato's interpretation on his reading of Aristotle; his interpretation of Metaph. 9.10, "the cornerstone of fundamental ontology", according to Heidegger, is dealt with. Next, the understanding of "Truth" in Heidegger’s lectures on Plato's dialogue Sophist is briefly analyzed, and, in addition, an alteration of this understanding in his "turning" work On the essence of Truth. The second part of the article is devoted to the analysis of Heidegger’s work Plato's Doctrine of Truth in four main aspects: "the idea as the visible"; "the idea of the Good as the visible"; "correctness of view"; "Plato as a sophist and Aristotle". The conclusion is made about a certain rearrangement of Plato and Aristotle’s positions in Heidegger's interpretation, and an imposition on Plato of rationalism and subjectivism not peculiar to him.