ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of ”˜homeland” and the diagnostic category of ”˜homelessness” derived from it with which Heidegger describes the contemporary situation of man, the situation that is characterized essentially by the planetary rule of technology and the homelessness to which it has given rise. Heidegger claims to give thought to such homelessness and, at the same time, to recollect symbolic resources—such as the basic determination ”homeland”—that help man to keep his balance in the precarious situation of the present, in the “maelstrom of nihilism.” He does so in the framework of what he calls the thought of Being. Two figures appear in the horizon of Heideggerian thought and become determinative for his thematization of homeland and homelessness: Nietzsche and Holderlin. Heidegger responds to the “Pelagians” of the twentieth century, that is, those who believe that man is only a human problem and is in a position to save himself: “Only a god can save us.”.
