INTIMACY is a state of intense belongingness which arises from a meaningful connection or mutual dependence of at least two entities. It includes an affective dimension but cannot be reduced to emotional experience. Moreover, Heidegger employs “intimacy” — as well as the adjective “intimate” (innig) — often to emphasize the relatedness of opposed principles or forces. Innigkeit maybe translated best into English as “intimacy,” in the sense of a particular closeness. But depending on the context, it also can be translated as “wholeheartedness” or “inwardness.”

Heidegger discovers intimacy as a philosophical topic while studying Hölderlin’s poetry. The word does not appear in the early lecture courses or in Being and Time. In Heidegger’s interpretation, intimacy is crucial for understanding the philosophical importance of Hölderlin. Thus, Heidegger refers to intimacy as the “foundational word” or “basic metaphysical concept” of Hölderlin’s poetry (GA3 9:129, 249). Since poetic language does not follow the same rules as scientific prose, Heidegger refrains from giving a comprehensive definition of the word: “its content cannot, of course, be captured in some scholarly definition” (GA39:117). This, however, does not prevent him from interpreting Hölderlin’s use of the word and subsequently adopting the word in his own writing (including his attempt to write poetry). (CHL)