Ontotheology

Ontotheology (German: Ontotheologie) is the ontology of God and/or the theology of being. While the term was first used by Immanuel Kant, it has only come into broader philosophical parlance with the significance it took for Martin Heidegger’s later thought. While, for Heidegger, the term is used to critique the whole tradition of ‘Western metaphysics’, much recent scholarship has sought to question whether ‘ontotheology’ developed at a certain point in the metaphysical tradition, with many seeking to equate the development of ‘ontotheological’ thinking with the development of modernity, and Duns Scotus often being cited as the first ‘ontotheologian’.

wikipedia/en/Ontotheology

Ontotheology is a philosophical concept describing the intertwining of ontology (the study of being or existence) and theology (the study of God or the divine). The term was first used by Immanuel Kant but gained significant philosophical prominence through Martin Heidegger, who argued that Western metaphysics is a form of ontotheology where all beings are grounded in a supreme being. Heidegger critiqued this tradition for reducing Being to a mere entity and for its tendency to establish a stable, calculable worldview, potentially obscuring the “holy” or mysterious aspects of reality.
Key aspects of Ontotheology:

Two-fold Foundation: Ontotheology rests on two pillars:
- Ontology: Identifying a universal trait of all beings, such as existence itself.
- Theology: Grounding all beings in a highest or supreme being.
Heidegger’s Critique:
- Heidegger believed that metaphysics, for all its history, is fundamentally ontotheological.
- By seeking to understand Being, metaphysics ultimately focuses on a particular entity that serves as the supreme principle or “God”.
- This focus, Heidegger argued, fails to truly elucidate Being itself but rather reifies it into an object or a highest cause.
Implications of the Critique:
- Reduction of Being: Viewing Being as a supreme entity can lead to an anthropocentric or subject-focused understanding of the world.
- Historical Impact: Heidegger saw ontotheology as shaping entire historical epochs by stabilizing and totalizing the understanding of existence and values.
- Pejorative Use: In some contexts, the term “ontotheology” functions as a criticism, discrediting a philosophical approach that grounds understanding in a supreme being.