ABSTRACT
In this chapter Edmund Husserl writes letter to Rudolf Otto. He has just heard from Vicar Katz that he would like to take him up on his offer to tell his impressions of Herr Oxner. In Heidegger it is the theoretical-philosophical interest which predominates, whereas in Oxner it is the religious—and so in Oxner that the author would be inclined to characterize him straightaway as a homo religiosus. The author is sure that Vicar Katz has told you that he would sincerely like to participate in any “relief action” to help Oxner. But his name must not be mentioned in that connection. He must not endanger his peaceful effectiveness in Freiburg. Nonetheless, his philosophical effect does have something revolutionary about it: Protestants become Catholic, Catholics become Protestant. Although the letter is chiefly concerned with Oxner and with Otto’s book Das Heilige, it is one of the earliest documents in which Husserl mentions Heidegger, and specifically Heidegger’s religious orientation to Protestantism.
