Heidegger and Teilhard de Chardin: The Convergence of History and Future

This article places a major figure in the history of philosophy (Heidegger) in dialogue with a somewhat obscure theologian-paleontologist (Teilhard) in order to understand how they each draw out tacit meanings in one another (thus combatting common criticism of their thinking). With respect to Heidegger, the teleological structure of Teilhard's understanding of evolution allows us to see the teleological structure of being that is disclosed through Dasein. With respect to Teilhard, Heidegger's emphasis on historical understanding illuminates how Teilhard's concern for the future is possible only by way of breaking with a linear interpretation of history.