Reconsidering Martin Heidegger on the modern university

Abstract Martin Heidegger's 1933 Freiburg University Rector's Address is normally considered in terms of the horrors of its association with National Socialism. This study re‐frames the debate about the Address by situating it in the context of the tradition of philosophical reflection upon the political and historical significance of the modern research university. I highlight aspects of the Address that signified continuity with distinctively liberal presuppositions embedded in foundational ideas of the Humboldtian university. I conclude with reflections on how Heidegger's Address sheds light on the issues of university governance and academic freedom as the contemporary neoliberal university confronts its own challenges.