His early philosophical interests were in 19th century German philosophy, particularly GWF Hegel, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Karl Marx.
Beaufret took his students to visit Heidegger at Todtnauberg in 1947 following a month-long Franco-German academic exchange at Freiburg im Breisgau, while Baden-Württemberg was still under French occupation.
*[1] In a letter sent to Faurisson, Beaufret is quoted as saying: "I believe that for my part I have traveled approximately the same path as you and have been considered suspect for having expressed the same doubts [concerning the existence of the gas chambers].
[2] François Fédier replied that Beaufret actually wrote this letter in 1978, long before Faurisson declared himself as a true negationist, so that he is absolutely not denying the Holocaust (this is demonstrably untrue; Faurisson had published 2 Holocaust-denying articles in 1978 already, and had claimed The Diary of Anne Frank as a forgery the same year).
[3] Concerning the so-called anti-Semitic tirade, Jacques Derrida actually didn't hear it: this was reported to him by a friend, Roger Laporte, and Beaufret denied it completely.