The Issue of"Metahistory":The Genesis of Heidegger's Philosophy of History
Heidegger's early investigation to the issue of"Metahistory"(Urgeschichte)is a rehearsal for his exploration of"History of being there"(Geschichtlichkeit)and"History of Being"(Seinsgeschichte),which begins from the encounter with Dilthey's hermeneutics,and takes the early Christian faith life as the background to sort out the phenomenological structure and historical significance inherent in religious faith life.Although such an exploration was conducted under the name of"Phe-nomenology of Religious Life",the truly dominant philosophical method is the formal indication(die formale Anzeige).However,what his historical study has demonstrated is neither the reconnection and integration of historical facts involved in religious phe-nomena,nor the search for a so-called more"scientific"theoretical paradigm for historical compilation involving religious life,but the questioning of"Metahistory"(Urgeschichte)of thoughts in the way of"formal indication",starting from the historical na-ture of religious life.Heidegger's analysis of Metahistory provides a creative insight into the correlation between faith and thought.