Life can sometimes be painful, and in the face of this, philosophy has often been seen as pessimistic and nihilistic. However, Nietzsche and Heidegger, in the face of life's hardship, often emphasised gratitude as of central importance. Philosopher Gigla Gonashvili argues thought itself can be viewed as an act of gratitude, with the shared characteristic between thinking and thanking being a recognition of the unasked-for gift of Being itself.

Philosophy can include gratitude among its fundamental visions. This is evident in none other than Nietzsche and Heidegger. Thus, it is not only religious or, more generally, mindful practices that teach us the value of gratitude, but also philosophy itself. In fact, we can even bring together the insights from these different fields.

Gratitude expresses a profound relation not only with our fellow beings but also with being itself. The big, so-called metaphysical questions—what is the ground of being? Why is there anything at all? Which comes first, the gaping absence or the fullness of creation?—are also questions about how we are to feel existence itself. And perhaps more than anything, we long to know how to feel about our own being, here and now.

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One should be grateful to Heidegger for bringing to light an important trait common to both thinking and gratefulness—namely, recognition, or in other words, the act of adding value to perception.

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Post-war Heidegger, who liked to say “Denken ist Danken” (literally: thinking is thanking), bequeathed to us a profound reflection on the relation between thought and thankfulness. Both words trace back to the same Indo-European root tong/tank, meaning noticing or acknowledging. In this context, Heidegger also recalls another German word derived from the same root, Gedächtnis (memory, commemoration), to tighten even further the connection between thinking and thanking.

Yet in what conceptual sense can thinking be the same as thanking—that is, as gratitude? Heidegger observes that we are usually grateful for what is not our own but given to us. Curiously, however, what is given to us is nothing other than our very own being, our essence (Wesen). This be-ing gives us something to think about, revealing itself as enigmatic and thought-provoking (bedenklich). At the same time, however, our being points toward an origin that is self-concealing, distancing itself from us. It thus seems that we have not yet truly begun thinking and, by the same token, not yet truly begun thanking.

Despite these complexities, one should be grateful to Heidegger for bringing to light an important trait common to both thinking and gratefulness—namely, recognition, or in other words, the act of adding value to perception. In Descartes’ Meditations, the genius malignus transforms into a benevolent God who, as it turns out, would not wish to deceive the thinker; thus reality is restored and founded anew. Yet one may ask: isn’t this a sleight of hand? Why all these theatrics? Descartes probably had more than one reason for proceeding in this manner, and one of them he states explicitly: clear perception (that is, seeing and believing) is more perfect than doubt (where the object may be lacking in perception). Instead of being dragged into an abyss of doubt, one manages to take a step back and appreciate reality as it gives itself clearly, as full—even if this fullness might appear foolish or unfounded to the doubting gaze. Without such recognition, thought would dissolve. There would be no cogito ergo sum.