ABSTRACT. In this speculative and theoretical analysis, we adopt a phenomenological-hermeneutic method of research grounded in “textual analysis,” the findings of which propose an alternative mode of “meditative” inquiry related to a renewed relationship to Being and its unfolding that outstrips the technical-scientific research and “calculative” thinking regimes that govern education on all levels today. We conclude that this re-conceived view of learning has crucial implications for understanding the human being in terms that are other than behavioral subject, neural-cognitive processing unit, or “technological” resource for manipulation and exploitation. Reading Heidegger’s later works, our research introduces the various uses and meanings of Ge-stell as found in “The Question Concerning Technology” and “The Origin of the Work of Art.” We indicate how the former use of Ge-stell relates to contemporary standardized education (Social Efficiency) and then move to consider what Heidegger says about “reflective” thought in “The Age of the World Picture,” which underpins our interpretation of the ideas in Basic Concepts and Discourse on Thinking as related to “meditative” thinking and Dasein’s relationship to Being as educative event, or Dasein’s “conversion through conversation.” Authentic education, we suggest, instantiates an originary form of inquiry that finds its home – ground and foundation (Grund und Boden) – in the nature of Being, in the counter-striving phenomenon of concealement and unconcealment, which calls for our releasement (Gelassenheit) and openness to the mystery (Offenheit für das Geheimnis) inherent in all things. pp. 7–37

Keywords: Heidegger’s “turn;” Gelassenheit; education; technology; post-philosophy

How to cite: Schwieler, Elias, and James M. Magrini (2015), “Meditative Thought and Gelassenheit in Heidegger’s Thought of the ‘Turn:’ Releasing Ourselves to the Original Event of Learning,” Analysis and Metaphysics 14: 7–37.

Received 17 January 2015 • Received in revised form 9 March 2015
Accepted 10 March 2015 • Available online 1 November 2015