At the beginning of the 21st century, the crimes of the 20th continue to confound philosophers.
Modern history seems beyond our capacity to feel.
Still we have to presume to imagine it, at a certain risk of inauthenticity, and to follow the thread of personal responsibility. Ms. Ettinger's is a dramatic study of the deeply troubling relationship between Arendt and Heidegger. The affair began as a series of clandestine liaisons. On appointed evenings, the master thinker left a lamp burning in his window to signal that the coast was clear. The disciple entered a world of intellectual authority and subterfuge.