Blumenberg, Hans. Being: A MacGuffin ()

8/10/2019 Blumenberg, Hans. Being: A MacGuffin ()

1/4

BeingA MacGuffin: How to Preserve the Desire to ThinkAuthor(s): HANS BLUMENBERG and David AdamsSource: Salmagundi, No. 90/91 (Spring-Summer 1991), pp. 191-193Published by: Skidmore CollegeStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40548278.

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2/4

Being

A

MacGuffin:

How

to

Preserve

heDesire

o

Think

BY HANS BLUMENBERG

(Translated

y

David

Adams)

Among

nhabitants

f

the

film

world,

MacGuffin" irculates

like word orwhich odictionarys needed.With wink f he ye, hey

understandhat

t

wouldnotbe

found

n

a

dictionary

ither.

The

ppearance

n1

66

of he

ialogue

etween

lfred itchcock

and

Francois

ruffaut,

hemasters

f

the

thriller"

ilm,

made t

possible

for

hewhole

world o

know

what

MacGuffins. Truffaut

ad asked

Hitchcock bout

t nd

hadreceived

direct nswer.

The directness

f the nswer

must e

emphasized.

t could

ust

as

wellhave

been

ndirect,

ince

he

magician's

xistences

always

trisk

when

e

reveals

ismethod.

he

secret

f heMacGuffin

s

that

evealing

its nameonlyfurthereightenshe uspense bout ts dentityneach

situation.

his

n

turn

hallenges

hemaster

o

give

visual

presence

o

something

hose

ogic

is hidden.

In

otherwords:

omething

ithout

meaning

or he

tory

eceives he

istinctionf

optical ignificance.

In

order o

give

color

to

this

requisite,

itchcock

nvents

conversation

etween

women

n

train.

ne asks

bout

package

n

the

baggage

ack,

nd

the ther

nswers,

Oh,

that's MacGuffin."

o the

follow-up

uestion:

t's an

apparatus

or

rapping

ions

n

theScottish

Highlands.

The

firstman

ays,

But there

re no lions

n

the

Scottish

Highlands,"nd he ther ne nswers,Wellthen,hat's oMacGuffin "

This,

Hitchcock

oncludes,

hows he

mptiness

f the

MacGuffin.



3/4

192

HANS BLUMENBERG

But s it

adequate

hat t be

empty?

Then the

package

n

the

baggage

rack,

whichhad nitiatedhe

onversation,

ould

notneed to

exist;

ut

he onversationad o

be

nitiated,

ecause

t

occupied

oth f

them or while.

In

the

MacGuffin,

istinguished

nly y

ts

dentity,

secret s

condensed

hat

ustified

very xpense,

very

ctivity,ny

mount

f

ife,

for he

uspense

f

he

ction.

A

man s the arrierf

material,

f

formula,

ofa sketch,f nformationhat s supposedlyerriblymportant;ut t s

not

mportant

hathis secretbe revealed

n

the end it is not

even

permissible,

f

disappointment

s tobe avoided ver he

bsurdity

f

etting

this

hing

e a matterf ife nd death.

It s best

hat

he

ossessor

f

the ecret

oes

underwith

t. The

MacGuffin

s

an

unfathomable

imension

hat etermineshe

uspense

f

the ction.

Hitchcock

an

also

convey

his

without

is

tory,hrough

is

experience

ith he

roduction

f

uspense:

themain

hing

've learned

over

he

years

s

that

heMacGuffins

nothing.

'm

convinced f

his,

ut

I findvery ifficultoprovet oothers.MybestMacGuffin,ndby hat

I

mean

my mptiest,

hemost

onexistent,

ndthemost

bsurd,

s

the

ne

we

used

in

'North

by

Northwest.'"

n

that1959

spy

film,

he all-

encompassinguestion

f what he

spies

are

seeking egins

with he

declaration

hat t

s the

object

of trade f an

imaginary

mport-export

agency.

The

spectator

earns

nothing

more thanthat

t consists f

"government

ecrets."

"Here,

you

see,"

Hitchcock

oncludes,

the

MacGuffin

asbeen

boileddown

o ts

purestxpression:

othing."

hus

it can come to

the

dentity

f

Being

and

Nothing.

One

realizes that

philosophersad ndmust ave heirMacGuffinsnorder opreservehe

work f

thinking,

s

well

s

interest

n

tsresult.

The

egendary

econd

art

Being

nd

Time

was

never

written,

because t dared

not

be written.

Anyone

who

has

ever et

himself e

influenced

y

he

reparations

or he

xpedition

nto he

enter f

Being

as it

s

understood

y

Dasein,

shudders efore

he

anality

f that

which

could

be

brought

o

ight

t

the ndof

all

existential

nalyses

nd

n

the

middle f

the

nchanting

horizon f

time" ircle.

The uthor

f

what s

still

hemost

ignificant

hilosophical

ork

ofthis entury ust averealized hat e risked ll significancefhe did

not

ecide o et t emain

fragment.

o do

that,

twasof ourse

ecessary



4/4

Being-

A

MacGuffin

193

to ttributehe

reaking

ff fthe

undamental-ontologicalxpedition

o

the

ompulsion

f

higher owers.

They

demandedwith

verpowering

urgency

hathe do

something

lse: surrender imself o the fate

of

thinking.

Companions

were

quickly

ound

n

antiquity.

Tradition ad

turned

hemnto

fragment

hat lone

till

arkly

ransmitted

n ntuition

of

origin.

o the

re-Socratics,

armenides

nd Heraclitus

n

particular,

becameobligatory ermeneuticompanions; hey hared he fate of

thought

roken

ff romts mbitious

ims.

The

MacGuffin

f

Being

id ts

uty.

heeffect idnot

ail

the

public

ollowed

reathlessly.

few

who

havenotheard

nything

bout

the

MacGuffinre

still

pun

round

y

t.

Is this

ame

orbidden?

ardly.

he

disappearance

fMacGuffins

fromheworld

would

ring

tsmovemento standstill.

hemeans

ustify

the

nd;

he ecretsevealed

long

he

way ustify

he

nrevealedemainder.

The answer

ever

iven

o the

uestion

f the

meaning

f

Being

nduced

the ffortoquestion uman asein about heunityf ts tatementsnd

behavior.

On the

way

here

as

a

delay,

nd

delay roved

tself obe

the

meaning

f the

way.

There re

no

lions

n

theScottish

ighlands.

But

woe to the

traveler

ho doubtswhether

here s a device

n

the

baggage

of his

travelingompanion

or

rapping

he ions here.

or

cheapknowledge,

hehas

old he

uspense

hat

must

evelop,

with

glance

t

the

mysterious

piece

of

baggage,

n

the

ong

hours f

the

rip.

Because

there

will

notbe

even

MacGuffin

n

the

iece

of

baggage

f

he knows rom he

eginning

that he ssertedunction ill ead nto mptiness. oredomwillbe the

just

punishment

or ne

who

does notwant o

ethimself e

seduced

y

suspense

just

s,

for ne

whoholds hat

he

uestion

f the

meaning

f

Being

s

meaningless,nly

yawning

oredom

an rise

or

better:

ersist)

from he

preparations

or he

xpedition

nto

heterra

ncognita

f the

understanding

f

Being.

Boredom

s,

when the

fireof

all

fireshas been lost

as the

punishment

f ll

punishments,

he

emaining

ptimization

f he nnui

f

Dasein.

For t here

s nodesiremore

rgent

han o

be disturbed.

uriosity

is thedisturbancefboredom.TheMacGuffins its piphany.


Documents

Blumenberg, Hans. Being: A MacGuffin ()