Kunst uusaja täideviimise ajastul

The author based his article on a fragment from a manuscript by Martin Heidegger Mindfullness (Besinnung, 1938/1939), to which he assigned the title - Die Kunst im Zeitalter der Vollendung der Neuzeit. The work was not published until 1997, but, in summary, it can project us forward from the origins of a work of art to reflection on the art of our era and that which surrounds it. We should emphasise and remember the fact that both Mindfullness (Besinnung, 1938/1939) as well as the Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning); (Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis), 1936) that preceded it were not intended for immediate publication after they were written in Nazi Germany and remained manuscripts for 50 years, until M. Heidegger’s 100th anniversary in 1989. In the title, all the words, in both English and German, are familiar, but when considered together, questions start to arise. The author explains the meaning of the following German words: die Neuzeit [modernity], das Zeitalter [epoch] and die Vollendung [completion]. The initial sentence of the fragment that provides an introduction as well as summary is: “During this era, art will complete its hitherto metaphysical nature.” If, according to the thinker, metaphysics is all actual Occidental history, then the history of art, as part of this history, is metaphysical, i.e. art has a metaphysical nature, which it will be completed during the completion era of modern times. First off, metaphysics means t h e f o r g o t t e nn e s s o f b e i ng , because instead of being itself, hereinafter inquiry is made of the “logical” existing being as well as being as such; since forgottenness of being is itself forgotten. The forgottenness also fades. This means that philosophy becomes metaphysical and slowly but surely assumes power, so that today metaphysics is considered to be one of the synonyms of philosophy. Secondly, post-Aristotelian metaphysical thinking is characterised by the development of its spirituality, which later labels being-historical thinking as h u m a n i sm, i.e. as humankind assuming the position of subiectum in its relationship with the “world”. Martin Heidegger even considers it possible to speak about the “rule of the modern metaphysics of subjectivity” (die Herrschaft der neuzeitlichen Metaphysik der Subjektivität). However, in this sense metaphysics by nature characterises everything that has been created in Europe, including art. Martin Heidegger says that art will realise its current