Rudolf Carnap

Rudolf Carnap is named as an early example of a philosopher who had to establish a critical distance from Martin Heidegger. The reference situates Carnap within the broad reception of Heidegger’s work, but does not specify Carnap’s own arguments or describe a particular exchange between them.

Place in Heidegger’s Reception

The book presents Heidegger as a defining philosopher of the twentieth century, arguing that subsequent philosophers had to draw a line of demarcation in relation to him. Carnap is the first philosopher named in this account, making the reference a marker of Heidegger’s reach across later philosophical debate.

Critical Distance and Ambivalence

The passage describes later responses to Heidegger as more complex than outright rejection: most philosophers acknowledge his breakthrough while contending that he did not carry it through to the end and remained caught in metaphysical presuppositions. Carnap is included in the broad group required to position itself critically toward Heidegger; the text does not say which specific criticism Carnap made or how closely his response followed this general pattern.

Scope of the Reference

Carnap’s role here is contextual rather than biographical. He helps establish the scale of Heidegger’s influence, while the discussion’s philosophical account of finitude and being-human concerns Heidegger, not Carnap. No further details about Carnap’s life, doctrines, or relationship with other philosophers are supplied in this passage.