It is well known among philosophers that Heidegger was a member of the Nazi party and that this is an event that has to be taken into account in any interpretation of his work. For some people as Richard Polt points out in his excellent book on Heidegger, this means that Heidegger's thought need not be bothered with. As he notes, this is a case of "bad man = bad philosopher" (attributed to Gilbert Ryle).
