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