The Scientific Ontology of Nikolai Hartmann versus the Existentialism of Martin Heidegger

Abstract

Relevance. The article presents a critical analysis of Martin Heidegger’s on­tology through the lens of another outstanding ontologist, Nicolai Hartmann. The purpose of the study is to identify the fundamental differences between Heidegger’s and Hartmann’s understanding of the theory of being, as well as to demonstrate that Hartmann’s critical ontology not only refutes Heidegger’s main propositions, but also offers a more consistent solution to ontological problems. Methods. The paper exposes the historicism of Heidegger’s philosophical posi­tion, which relies more on the spirit of the time and the disposition of the societal mind than on the objective structures and modes of being on which, in contrast to Heidegger, Hartmann grounds his ontological reflections. Hartmann’s critical ontology thus emerges as an alternative to existential subjectivism and the philosophical trend of anthropologizing the world; at the same time, Hartmann’s perspective represents an attempt to return philosophy to its original task – the contemplation of being as such, rather than the human experiences concerning it. Novelty. This study demonstrates how Hartmann’s realism overcomes this trap by shifting the philosophical focus from consciousness to being itself. Particular attention is paid to Hartmann’s critique of Heidegger’s concept of “fear” as an on­tological principle, which, in Hartmann’s view, turns existential analytics into a psychological mystification. Conclusion. The research examines how Heidegger’s attempt to reduce ontology to the analysis of Dasein effectively reinstates the ide­alist stance that Hartmann calls the “correlativist prejudice.” It also reveals that ontological intention of Heidegger’s thought is profoundly contradictory and speculative due to the arbitrary use of philosophical categories and the introduc­tion of the subjectivist concept of Dasein’s existentials. As a result, Heidegger’s ontology acquires distinctly correlativist features that align it with the idealist tradition, which conceives the being of the surrounding world as conditioned by the subject.