Eric Voegelin and Martin Heidegger on the Anaximander Fragment

Abstract

Heidegger and Voegelin's respective analyses of the Anaximander fragment provide a rare opportunity to compare their thinking on a political theme: dike (order, justice). This paper highlights the distinctly Augustinian flavor of Heidegger's interpretation of the fragment. Following a philosophically similar insight, Voegelin furthers his analysis by situating Anaximander's fragment within a larger set of empirical observations of experiences of order. This allows him to better describe what he sees as the ultimate source of order in the Anaximandrian sense. Voegelin's further step of empirically exploring the philosophical insights garnered from the fragment is of decisive importance insofar as it helps Voegelin to avoid the dangers of philosophical abstraction native to political thought.