A question of Faith: Heidegger’s destructed concept of faith as the origin of questioning in philosophy

Blok analyzes the relationship between Heidegger’s method of philosophical questioning and his ambiguous attitude toward faith and religion. Blok scrutinizes Heidegger’s thesis according to which religion is excluded from the questionability specific to philosophical thought. After analyzing Heidegger’s characterization of philosophy as questioning and discussing three essential aspects of this conception, Blok raises the question whether the concept of faith can be separated from Heidegger’s method of philosophical questioning. In this context, Blok shows that in the 1930s Heidegger developed a formal analysis of thought in terms of faith (or belief), where belief is understood as a “holding-to-be-true.” According to Blok, Heidegger’s notion of faith as a holding-to-be-true is a necessary aspect for the “original stance of inquiry” essential to philosophy since the “truth of Being” can only resonate in a philosophical questioning characterized by faith as a holding-to-be-true.