Book Description
Martin Heidegger's Sein und Zeit is one of the seminal works in philosophy of the 20th century. It is also a very cryptic work. Martin Heidegger on Being Human relates oracular claims in plain English and supplies arguments missing in Sein und Zeit to show that its claims are plausible. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A book on the easy absolute:we got him
Here is another book of philosophy lectures with no index.The Contents has a lot of section number and titles, but the possibility of some confusion is already obvious in the title for section 3, "The significance of the first part of the system with regard to the designation of both its titles." (p. v, pp. 17-26).This still relates to the early part of the Introduction before "Preliminary Consideration" (p. v, pp. 32-42), which consists of section 5, "The presupposition of the Phenomenology:Its absolute beginning with the absolute."If this seems excessive in the substitution of words for whatever this series of lectures is supposed to be about, there is a little chart of the basic Phenomenology-system at the bottom of page 7 which shows how Part I of Hegel's philosophy, his book, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, is merely an introduction to the Encyclopedia-system, which Hegel originally called Part II, before it was written, but which was divided in three parts, Logic, Philosophy of Nature, and Philosophy of Spirit, in the Encyclopedia which included Phenomenology of Spirit as merely "The second section of the first part (subjective spirit)" (p. 7) of the three main divisions included "in the transformed system of philosophy."(p. 7).Heidegger admits that this is a very philosophical move:

"But should one not say then that Hegel already at the beginning of his work presupposes and anticipates what he wants to achieve only at the end?Certainly this must be said.Indeed, whoever wishes to understand anything of his work must say that again and again.The attempt to diminish this `fact'--as we would like to call it--show, furthermore, how little this work has been understood. . . . For it pertains to the essential character of philosophy that wherever philosophy sets to work in terms of its basic question and becomes a work, it already anticipates precisely that which it says later."(p. 30).

These lectures on Hegel's first major work "constitutes the lecture course given by Heidegger at the University of Freiburg during the winter semester of 1930/31.The German edition, edited by Ingtraud Goerland, was published in 1980 by Vittorio Klostermann Verlag."(p. viii).Normally publication dates matter little in philosophy, and the English translation did not appear until 1988, but the publication in German in 1980 might be considered an answer to specific questions raised by hotshot American philosopher and Princeton professor Walter Kaufmann, near the end of his life, who published a three-volume set in 1980 called Discovering the Mind, after some of the ideas were presented in 1974 and the first draft was completed in 1976, in which Hegel was considered too rushed to be considered philosophical:"especially in his first book he came to write at such a pace that he put fleeting thoughts and doubtful notions down on paper and then had to send them to the printer without any opportunity to rethink what he had written."(DM, V. I, pp. 255-256).Volume II made the same points regarding the publication of Heidegger's first original work, only half a system in which "Heidegger secularized Christian preaching about guilt, dread, and death, but claimed to break with two thousand years of Western thought." (DM, VII, p. xvi).Privately, in "an unpublished letter that Heidegger had written to Karl Loewith on August 19, 1921" (DM, VII, p. 170), Heidegger had written "but it must be added that I am no philosopher, and I do not imagine that I am doing anything remotely comparable; that is not my intention. . . . I am a `Christian theologian.' " (DM, VII, p. 171).

It should be obvious that Heidegger was capable of recognizing systems and identifying them quite easily.In HEGEL'S PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, he has titles in his Contents that call out:"the System of Science," "1. The system of the phenomenology and of the encyclopedia," "2. Hegel's conception of a system of science," "b)Absolute and relative knowledge.Philosophy as the system of science," "4.The inner mission of the phenomenology of spirit as the first part of the system."Such an understanding of systems is entirely philosophical, and Heidegger's defense of his BEING AND TIME in the final few pages of these lectures is entirely philosophical in nature.He was not supposed to be writing about himself, but about the philosophical "problematic of `being and time' " (pp. 146-147) which previously flared up "for the first and only time, namely, in Kant--people refuse to see the problem and speak rather of my arbitrarily reading my own views into Kant.There is something peculiar about the lack of understanding in our contemporaries by virtue of which one can become famous all of a sudden, and indeed in a dubious sense."(p. 147).That he could complain about being famous as a philosopher already in 1931, before any notoriety from political scandals could make the picture as messy as a German mentality would be a few years later, tends to show that Heidegger had a better grasp of philosophical matters than any of his competitors, of whom only Karl Jaspers, the famous doctor-philosopher whose books include one on GENERAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, springs to mind as truly great.

Heidegger pictures Hegel's first book as a process of creeping up on absolute knowledge."Hence, the work ends with the short section DD, which is entitled `Absolute Knowledge.' "(pp. 32-33).This leads up to the main assignment:

"In this lecture course I presuppose such a first reading of the entire work.If such a reading has not taken place or does not take place in the next few weeks, there is no sense in sitting here:You cheat not only me but yourselves.However, the first reading is not a guarantee that with the second reading we really understand the work.Perhaps the first reading must be frequently repeated, which is only to say that the first reading is utterly indispensable."(p. 36). ... Read more

Book Description
Martin Heidegger's Introduction toMetaphysics, first published in 1953, is a highly significant work by a towering figure intwentieth-century philosophy. The volume is known for its incisive analysis of theWestern understanding of Being, its original interpretations of Greek philosophy andpoetry, and its vehement political statements. This new companion to the Introduction toMetaphysics presents an overview of Heidegger's text and a variety of perspectives on itsinterpretation from more than a dozen highly respected contributors.

In the editors' introduction to the book, Richard Polt and Gregory Fried alert readers tothe important themes and problems of Introduction to Metaphysics. The contributors thenoffer original essays on three broad topics: the question of Being, Heidegger and theGreeks, and politics and ethics. Both for readers who are approaching Heidegger for thefirst time and for those who are studying Heidegger on an advanced level, thisCompanion offers a clear guide to one of the philosopher's most difficult yet mostinfluential writings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not really what I had expected...
So I bought this after having purchased and read half of Introduction to Metaphysics.Since I was reading it on my own (having finished with college), I thought that it would be beneficial to have some secondary sources to aid in my comprehension of that book.Amazon reccomended this work, and since it was edited by the same two professors who had translated/editied the version of Introduction to Metaphysics I was using, it seemed like a great idea - I could maybe get some more background info on Heidegger's works/thoughts, maybe some views on his handling of classical Greek philology.That's what I had hoped anyway.

What this book consists of are scholarly essays on Heidgger whose topics coincide with some of the topics of Introdoction to Metaphysics.These articles are written for other Heidegger scholars, and assume familiarity of Heidegger's complete life and works, often exceeding Heidegger's obscurity and (mis)use of non-English terminology.Perhaps Walter Kaufmann (in his twin trilogies, Discovering the Mind and Life at the Limits) that one of Heidegger's cheif virtues was in providing work for a certain species of "scholarly oxen" who are unwilling to admit the essential unsoundness of Heidegger's methodology.At any rate, I find his impressions of Heidegger (whom he knew first-hand) to be rather accurate, and can highly reccomend any of his works.

Also, for those interested in the thoughts of another great German philosopher on the Greeks, I highly reccomend Greg Whitlock's edition of Nietzsche's lectures on the Pre-Platonic Philosophers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Essence of Truth'
One of Heidegger's most important works, The Essence of Truth, bears witness to a shift in emphais, in which truth and by extension, being, no longer happens through the agency of Dasein, but in the 'open' in which Dasein is uncovered. By a slow and careful reading of Plato's allegory of the cave, Heidegger shows how truth ceased to be 'unhiddenness' and became mere 'correctness', beginning the degeneration of thought about being into metaphysics. ... Read more

Book Description
Martin Heidegger is now widely recognized as one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. He transformed mainstream philosophy by defining its central task as asking the 'question of being'. His thought has contributed to the turn to hermeneutics and to postmodernism and poststructuralism. Moreover, the disclosure of his deep involvement in Nazism has provoked much debate about the relation of philosophy to politics. This edition brings to the fore other works, as well as alternative approaches to scholarship. The essays cover topics such as Heidegger's conception of phenomenology, his relation to Kant and Husserl, his account of truth, and his stand on the realism/anti-realism debate. This edition includes a new preface by the editor, revised versions of several essays from the first edition, and an exhaustive bibliography, providing guidance for both newcomers to Heidegger's work and established scholars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fairly Helpful
This is a competent guide for new students of Heidegger, though it is necessarily crude to have to simplify and reorganize his thinking. The chapter death, time, and history is probably the most helpful, for it is some of Heidegger's most challenging material. Also included are essays on Heidegger's thoughts on psychotherapy, ecology, Buddhism, and technology. Although the essay on Heidegger's politics is fairly amateurish. An average text on the whole.

An interesting guide for new readers and non-specialists.
THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO HEIDEGGER.Edited by Charles Guignon.389 pp.Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1993 and reprinted.ISBN 0-521-385970-0(Pbk).

This excellent collection of articles for students and the general reader contains, in addition to an extremely clear and useful 40-page introductory overview of Heidegger's thought and career by Charles Guignon, the following thirteen pieces:

1.The Question of Being: Heidegger's Project - DOROTHEA FREDE; 2.Reading a life : Heidegger and hard times - THOMAS SHEEHAN;3.The unity of Heidegger's thought - FREDERICK A. OLAFSON;4.Intentionality and world : Division I of 'Being and Time' - HARRISON HALL;5.Time and phenomenology in Husserl and Heidegger - ROBERT J. DOSTAL; 6.Heidegger and the hermeneutic turn - DAVID COUZENS HOY; 7.Death, time, history : Division II of 'Being and Time' - PIOTR HOFFMAN; 8.Authenticity, moral values, and psychotherapy - CHARLES B. GUIGNON; 9.Heidegger, Buddhism, and deep ecology - MICHAEL E. ZIMMERMAN; 10.Heidegger and theology - JOHN D. CAPUTO; 11. Heidegger on the connection between nihilism, art, technology, and politics - HUBERT L. DREYFUS; 12.Engaged agency and background in Heidegger - CHARLES TAYLOR; 13.Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and the reification of language - RICHARD RORTY.

Although many of these contributors are distinguished Heidegger scholars, most do seem to have successfully pitched their discussion at a level suited to the non-specialist, and although this book is by no means a 'Heidegger Made Simple' (a certain amount of background in both philosophy and Heidegger would be useful) most readers should come away with an enhanced understanding of Heidegger and a desire to know more.The absolute beginner, however, might prefer - after reading Charles Guignon's Introduction, and before plunging into the articles - to read a more extended general introduction such as George Steiner's 'Martin Heidegger' (1987).

Besides helping the general reader and non-specialist, the Companion will also be of use to more advanced students as providing a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Heidegger, and here the inclusion of Zimmerman's excellent article is both gratifying and noteworthy.Too often, books about Heidegger completely overlook the fact that many of the most brilliant minds in Asia have spent the last two thousand years pondering some of the very same problems that exercised Heidegger, and that a knowledge of their thoughts about such matters as Being or Time can sometimes help us to better understand Heidegger.

Readers, for example, might take a look at Book 11 of Dogen's 'Shobogenzo,' UJI (Existence-Time or Being-Time), or at such works as Graham Parkes 'Heidegger and Asian Thought' or Richard Mays 'Heidegger's Hidden Sources : East Asian Influences on his Work' (see my Listmania List 'Understanding Heidegger' for details).Dorothea Frede, in her 'The Question of Being,' asks (without answering) the question : "What led to the "breakthrough" that provided Heidegger with the clue for attacking the question of the meaning of being in a new way . . . ?" (page 51).Who knows?Might it have been Asian thought?It certainly begins to look so.

The Companion also includes a List of contributors, a Chronology, a curiously organized 22-page Bibliography of both German and English works (which would have been easier to consult if the items had been spaced) and an Index.It is well-printed in a large, clear font on excellent paper, is bound in a sturdy glossy wrapper, and comes with a glued spine.Well organized and well produced, The Companion becomes a fitting addition to the distinguished Cambridge series and should be of interest to all serious students of Heidegger.

Superb
A simply excellent collection of articles on Heidegger, covering a broad spectrum of subjects ranging from Heidegger's views on technology,ontology, phenomenology, hermeneutics, theology and nihilism to art,morality, nazism, and language.

Guignon has compiled essays that are ofgood philosophical quality yet understandable (a bigproblem when it comesto some of Heidegger's own writings).

An Excellent Introduction
As a student, I found this book to be an extremely helpful introduction to Heidegger's philosophy. I get much more out reading Heidegger now than I did before having read this book. It is a well organized, clearly written,and scholarly collection of essays, which explicate major themes inHeidegger's works. I recommend it to students and laymen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

FALSE DEPTH
This is absolutely the worst book I've ever read about Kant, it has nothing to do with his doctrine, and it falls in deliberated distortions about the essence of critical thought. The main task of Heidegger is embodied in a struggle against german idealism (specifically advanced enlightenment), so the main purpose for this book will be to dissolve heterogeneity (superiority) of understanding (over) and sense, appealing on a famous Kantian passage that more or less says "there exist two logs of knowledge, the ones are coming probably from a common root, but unknown for us" (KrV B 29). In his pretension, Heidegger claims to discover this "common root" (considered in german idealism as the last unity of a dialectical process, then, a rational one) in time, specifically, in the doctrine of the self-affection as it is exposed in the transcendental aesthetics (KrV B 67), so, his main thesis can be found in paragraph n° 34, there, Heidegger says: "Time, and the 'I think', doesn't confront themselves now as incompatibles and heterogeneous, nevertheless, they are the same", and further he adds "pure sensibility (time) and pure reason not only are homogeneous, moreover they own to the unity of the same essence". All the book is ever enclosing to this thesis (as it was offered in Being and Time, not in the KrV), of course on different ways, as for example, in his treating on the concepts of ontology, intuitus originaria, metaphysica generalis, finiteness of human knowledge, schematism, etc... And this thesis was far before offered to us by Erich Adickes and the realistic interpretations.

But the fact is that this has nothing to do with Kantian philosophy, and Heidegger never notice to the reader where Kant stops and Heidegger start. Thus, in front of this thesis Kant already expressed in his time that "understanding and sensibility become brothers, in spite of their heterogeneity, to engender our knowledge, AS IF one faculty had its origin in the other, or AS IF both of 'em had a common origin, THOUGH IT CAN NOT BE, or at least it is not-understandable that the heterogeneous get engendered from a common root" (Kant, Anthropology, par. 31), and he also warned us from this misleading in his transcendental deduction (1787), concerning the same topic treated in relation to this in the aesthetics (inner sense), but now, obviously accurated, in KrV B 152 - B 159. But Heidegger intentionally doesn't consider the second edition deduction.

Why then, an acknowledged philosopher ignores this basic start point? It is there a hidden purpose? Probably in its more surfaced task, yes. But the historical context may clarify us the fact that such a kind of interpretations are engaged to struggle against modernity and its methods, trying to replace `em both by a new dark age through an ad auctoritas interpretandi method. Against this, Kant also said "in philosophy, there is no classic author" (Answer to Eberhard, 1st, secc. Part 3) The book, in relation to Heidegger's rhetoric, can be useful and "clarifying", but in relation to Kant and modern philosophy, it can be reduced to "nothing". The not-understandable that Kant names in the passage above means a type of nothingness (nihil negativum, KrV B 348, like saying "squared circle"), and it was remembered to us how is present in this kind of interpretations by T. W. Adorno, in his Negative Dialectics: "the doctrine of the being hide and exploit dialectics that makes mix up pure particularization and pure universality, both equally undetermined; emptiness becomes a mythic cuirass".

Don't buy this piece of trash, unless you want to impress a fooled girl in the faculty with this "technical nothingness".

Nicolás Guzmán Grez.

systematic and technical Heidegger
It is primarily and for the most part a readable translation of some very difficult to translate, much less understand and appropriate, esoteric thought.An absolute must read for any would-be Heideggerians, and not a bad place to get some insight into Kant at the same time.

Easily among Heidegger's best works
A masterpiece in its own right.

The origin of Deconstruction. Read before `Being and Time'.
Intended to be part of `Being and Time', but published separately and after BT. Heidegger's intention for `Kant and The Problem of Metaphysics' is straight forward; that is, Rational-Cognitive subjectivity (as presentedin Kant's `Critique of Pure Reason') is not a tenable basis formetaphysics. Why? Because `time' alone can provide a foundation formetaphysics; thereby, dispensing with Reason, subjectivity and the rest ofKant's transcendental machinery. Heidegger claims to have `found Kant out';that is, earlier editions of Kant's Critique has time as a much moreimportant notion. Heidegger accuses Kant of recoiling from the primacy oftime, and goes on to demonstrate that time is the basis of any possiblemetaphysics; to be carried out as a fundamental ontology via `Being andTime'.

Watch out for Heidegger's own recoil regarding spatiality and itsrelation to time.

Being and Time, Part II
This is perhaps the second most important text from Heidegger behind the monumental Being and Time.Where Being and Time ends abruptly without venturing into the destruction of the history of western ontology, the"Kant book" appears to be a sketch of the possible direction ofHeidegger's fundamental ontology.

Surprisingly enough, Heidegger offersa rather faithful exegesis of Kant's discussion of the schematism from theCritique of Pure Reason.This is a close and careful reading of Kant whichdemonstrates Heidegger's skill at reconstruction of an existing text.Theshort Part One of this book is a work of art as Heidegger clearly definesKant's project as a groundwork for metaphysics, that is, as ontology, bytracing the initial remarks by Kant to their Greek and scholastic origins. Therefore, Heidegger argues that the Kant of the First Critique does notbring forth a theory of knowledge (and against the Prolegomena that Kant ismaking a foundation for science), but rather, that the real project is acritique of metaphysics by returning to ontology as the groundwork formetaphysics.Thus, this project runs straight into Heidegger's ownconcerns of the possibility of anthropology.

Included in this edition isa transcript of the historical (and highly entertaining) debate betweenHeidegger and Ernst Cassier from the Davos lectures.Along with this, theeditors have included other illuminating notes, drafts, andforwards.

Whether for or against Heidegger, this book clearlydemonstrates the enormous philosophical skills of Martin Heidegger. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

THE INTIMATE HEIDEGGER
After reading this excellent memoir I find myself on more intimate terms with Martin Heidegger! The author, a close friend of Heidegger for many years, clearly loved and respected him. This is not an unbiased, critical recollection of the philosopher.

I had no idea that Heidegger liked Frederico Garcia Lorca, or that he identified with the character of Don Martin in Lorca's "Dona Rosita." He also loved Karl Orff's opera "Antigone" and Mozart's the "The Marriage of Figaro." While Heidegger was no film buff, it's interesting to note that he saw and liked Kurosawa's "Rashomon." I hadn't appreciated quite how much Heidegger loved Cezanne, either.

Aside from Heidegger's cultural and academic interests and influences, this memoir interestingly recounts several "encounters and dialogues" that the author had with Heidegger, as well as conversations the philosopher had with others (such as Clara Rilke, Jean-Paul Sartre, and a marvelous exchange with a Tibetan monk who visited Heidegger at his home). (Petzet often jotted down Heidegger's conversations, either while they happened or just afterwards when they were fresh in his memory).

The book also sheds light on Heidegger's day to day activities, describing home and workplace, as well as life at his famed "hut." It goes through the different stages of Heidegger's life. Many have criticized Heidegger's brief and unfortunate involvement with the Nazis, but Petzet claims Heidegger and the Nazis were actually enemies. The Nazis spied on Heidegger, blacklisted and harshly censored him. They prevented him from lecturing and traveling.

In any case, Petzet's memoir is truly an intimate portrait, fleshesing out the historical Heidegger and showing his very tender and kind relationships with people from all over the world and from many walks of life. My only warning to readers is that the book contains a flood of names that are probably more wellknown in Germany than elsewhere.

STIRRING AND PROVOCATIVE RECOLLECTION OF TIME WELL SPENT
Heinrich Petzet and his family cultivated a lifelong friendship with Martin Heidegger and his family, and thus this recollection presents an insider's view of who in fact Martin was and where he stood on issues political, philosophical, poetic, and even soccer. While this is neither a guide to Heidegger's pathways of thinking, nor an apology, nor even a biography as such, it none the less is an eyewitness account of what Martin said, did, felt, believed in the depths of his thinking, and at those cross roads at which he has been unjustly vilified.
In no uncertain terms, this sets the record straight on the assault on Martin's character by those who would like to capitalize on the sins of Nazi Germany. From an ethical standpoint, which is worse? In any case, Petzet makes it clear how and why Heidegger's rectoral address was misinterpreted - consider who stood to gain - why the Nazis were pissed at him and put a Gestapo tail on him, forbidding him to publish and restricting his travel, and then moves on to what in fact are very enlightening and humanistic snapshots of a life spent in friendship and dedication between these two men. Heidegger, for his part, never endorsed the idea of a biography - he was never into the cult of personality, which in itself was a sublime rebuke to those who sought to crucify him. He was first and foremost about the pathways and contributions to thinking and recovering what was lost after the epoch of Parmenides and Heracleitus and Sophocles.
Through the course of this wonderful book, Heidegger's interest in Carl Orff, Picasso, Klee, and especially world cup soccer are also presented. Those who were his friends and colleagues knew what the real man was like, and this is a glimpse of him. Like Socrates, he took the hemlock of opinion because he knew his efforts would stand on their own merit. He was a caring and compassionate friend who suffered the loss of friends and neighbors like so many others in WW2, who was more or less under house arrest, whose family was threatened because he steadfastly refused to espouse and embrace the Nazi racist ideals, and in fact, as rector at Freiburg, Heidegger demanded that anti-semitic banners not be displayed. No other German intellectual put his life on the line as Martin did. This sets the record straight. Anything else you have heard or read is a lie. I remember reading an incredibly stupid and libellous retard by Woody Allen when Heidegger died, and it struck me then that there was an industry about demonizing those one couldn't refute on their own terms. Unlike Allen, Heidegger walked the walk. He was the genuine article at a time in history when such authenticity was extraordinarily dangerous.
As his life drew to a close, Martin Heidegger never lost his sight of how endearing his family and friends had been to him, and his final words to Petzet are both heroic and deeply touching. We should all muster such nobility, dignity, respect and grace. The last giant left us in 1976. There will never be another quite like him. We are fortunate to have Petzet's account. We would all do well to take up the path of thinking Martin pointed to. In the end, that is what is most sacred about being. ... Read more

Book Description
Heidegger's philosophical journal, written during his first visit to Greece in 1962, and appearing here in English for the first time. ... Read more

Book Description
Introducing Heidegger provides an accessible introduction to his difficult thinking, examining its historical contexts and its resonances in ecology, theology, art, literature and other fields. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Introduction - Read and be Pleased
While the comic-strip style of the "Introducing..." series can be entertaining and beneficial when it comes to breaking up the monotony of dense philosophy, it also tends to be rather distracting and can make the survey of Heidegger more difficult to understand.HOWEVER, I think this volume is well done!

As far as a survey of Heidegger's work goes, this is a very accessible introduction - truly living up to its name.You will be excited about his thought and itching to read "Being and Time" when you're through with this book.

Interested in the thought of Heidegger?Not ready to go to critical editions of his work just yet?Read this Introduction!!

Not a bad introduction, but lacking in some respects
While this is a decent introduction to one of the most notoriously difficult (yet influential) philosophers of the 20th century, as the title says, it is lacking in some respects.The biggest thing I noticed is that the author discusses Descartes and Husserl... but NEVER mentions ImmanuelKant, whose ideas on the Noumenon and Phenomenon were hugely influential on both Husserl and Heidegger.(It has been said, with some justification, that Kant *was* Continental philosophy, and everything else was a footnote to Kant).This is such a glaring oversight that it makes me question the scholarship in the remainder of the book.

The author also spends a good deal of time dealing with Heidegger's brief flirtation with Nazism... but neglects to mention that Heidegger soon fell out of favor with the Nazis and spent most of the Nazi years under a cloud of suspicion.(Perhaps Heidegger never disclaimed Nazism as loudly or as clearly as some would like ... but it's also worth noting that one of his major influences, Edmund Husserl, was Jewish... and of course there is his longtime friendship/love affair with Hannah Arendt, the author of *Eichmann in Jerusalem* and a major thinker in her own right).

Still, this is about as good an introduction to Heidegger as you are likely to find.The author manages to make his concepts of "Dasein" as clear as one can make such an abtruse concept.This will make explorations of Heidegger on your own a bit easier ... but it certainly won't serve as a replacement for same.Unfortunately, there's no way around studying Heidegger in his full glory... much as you may want to avoid the verbiage which was tangled in German and next-to-impossible in translation.

(On the bright side: after slogging through a few pages of Heidegger, Sartre looks like easy reading)

Enormously Helpful
When I first became interested with Heidegger, my first impulse was to tackle the big one- "Being and Time." However, after reading just a few pages of this tome, I realized the material was way over my head. I turned to guides concerning Heidegger's work, and "Introducing Heidegger" was extremely enlightening. Although it is in "comic book" format, the writing, although concise, is full of helpful observations and anecdotes. The pictorial aids also accentuate what the writing describes.
Heidegger's concepts are laid out in full here- from his "secular theology" to his concept of simultaneous disclosure. His observations on art are revealed, also.
This introduction to Heidegger was invaluable to me. I can now recognize strains of Heidegger's thought in the work of writers much easier to read such as Foucault, Sartre, and Jaspers.

A Reader from New York
INTRODUCING HEIDEGGER presents the reader with a lucid and thoughtfully rendered overview of Heidegger's overall corpus. However, this book does not represent a profound encounter with H's original texts by any stretch.Rather, it is a handy reference book, refresher, or study guide. Thepictures are somewhatevocative and illuminating at times, but the bookreminds me -- and this is NOT a slight-- of a well executed Cliff Notesedition. The main virtues of the book include reasonable clarification ofterminology, consideration of H's predecessors and successors in philosophyand other fields, chronological presentation, very concise explication andthe often helpful use of visual art. Still, the book is best for either"absolute beginners" or those who need a handyrefresher/reference. It can also be used alongside original texts ifexisting commentaries seem too abstruse. In any case, it beats HEIDEGGERFOR BEGINNERS. But for those who want more depth and breadth from anintroduction to Heidegger, I reccommend Macquarrie's HEIDEGGER ANDCHRISTIANITY and, secondarilly, George Steiner's HEIDEGGER. These are bothbooks (particularly Macquarrie's) of greater profundity than theINTRODUCTION, yet they are concise and accessible.In sum, INTRODUCINGHEIDEGGER is a fairly reliable short study guide in which some ofphilosophy's most difficult terms and concepts are cleanlyintroduced, ifnot deeply explored.

An accessible and artistic presentation of Heidegger
I have spent many afternoons in my adolescence hearing my father talk about Heidegger.He has some learning in the German Language, and actually read "Being and Time."I too have a copy of "Being andTime" which sits on my shelf many times begun and never finished. Still we discuss these ideas, and so through our conversations these ideasseem somewhat familiar.Finally one day he found a copy of this book.Heread it, and tells me that rings very true to Heidegger's message.I willhave to take his word for it.I feel greatly relieved as I think I havejust about given up trying to read "Being and Time," though itwill always sit impressively on my shelf.This book, "IntroducingHeidegger" by comparison proves EXTRAORDINARILY accessible.I haveread it through several times already and each time I find myself focussingon a new aspect of the messages there.Perhaps Collins and Selina presentHeidegger better than Heidegger himself.

Collins and Selina do not limittheir scope to Being and Time, instead creating a semi-biographicalphilosophical context for all of his ideas, not just Being and Time.Theydo not dodge the bullet about Heidegger's involvement in the early Nazimovement and his failure to disavow the Nazi's later and spend severalpages exploring what this might and might not mean for Heidegger'sphilosophical outlook.As Heidegger's thinking proves inextricable fromthe language through which we would express such thinking, I found theartful illustrations crucial in setting this in a profound context thatwords alone could not do.Sometimes the connections between the words andthe pictures emerged obviously and explicitly, and sometimes they revealedthemselves poetically and subversively.This book proves every bit asartistic if not more so, as it does philosophical.

One of my currentlyfavorite pages from the book occurs on page 150."Language speaks,not the orator -- and it comes before the orator, speaking the orator'sname and identity."Of course more appears on the page both pictureand writing, but its basic message deeply resonates with another interestof mine, memetics.For those familiar with memetics recall SusanBlackmore's "The Meme Machine" and her exploration of the memeticnature of self and identity.This will speak to you. (see also mine andother's Amazon reviews of her book)

If you have ever scratched your headat the name of Heidegger and his ideas, or broken down in disappointment atan inability to devour the impenetrable pages of Being and Time, this bookwill provide the breakthrough.I hesitate to call this philosophy, becauseit does so much more than just philosophy.I see this book as art. Philosophical and spiritual art both disturbing and enlightening. Excellent job by the author, the illustrator, and the editor, Appignanesi. If, like me, you cannot get yourself to slog through Heidegger's thickprose, and you do not wish to miss a profound page in the history ofwestern thought, do not miss this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An insightful but troubled reading of Schelling
Because it is thoughtful and thurough, as well as the fact that is one of the few book-length treatments of any single Schelling text, Heidegger's text on Schelling's "Freedom Essay" is a valuable book for studying Schelling. But despite its use, this text has significant flaws.First, Heidegger spends far too little time acquianting the reader with Schelling's earlier thought, and it refuses to see the latter period of Schelling's career as anything more than a "silent period." As a result, Schelling's last major published work is open to be interpreted, somewhat misrepresented, and fitted into Heidegger's own philosophical assumptions rather than the development of its author's philosophical insight.

Further, the text's final critical assesment of Schelling has very little weight outside of Heideger's own thought...in fact, the criticism is little more than an assertion that Schelling's theological thoughts must be attributed to man rather than any religious or philosphical god. Heidegger tries to preserve Schelling's anthropological insights apart from the foundation they require, but can offer no compeling reason why the one should not be rejected with the other.

Thus, this text offers the student two things: a valuable though flawed discussion of Schelling, and a chance to see Heidegger's willingness to present only what is convenient for his appropriation of western philosophy.

Heidegger at his best
Martin Heidegger in this decisive work takes a little known author and "confronts" his work with his own understanding of Being as finite. The result is an amazing understanding of the finite human condition as freedon. This is authentic thought that does not wallow in morbidity nor escape to mere rationality or the romanticism of idealism. Heidegger fresh from working out his "Contributions to Philosophy:From Enowing" is fully engaged and moving on. Heidegger, gives adequate cautions through out the work so that our initial enthusiasm is not lost but becomes transformed into a silent "yes" that can refresh us for some time to come. Stambaugh, thoroughly versed in translating for her readers and those that want to read Heidegger, also provides an extensive appendix that is a "gold mine" for rereading all of Heideggers works. This appendix is almost like "notes from the underground". Though Heidegger might not approve of such terms he would nevertheless understand. Make no mistake, Heidegger has not forgotten his own history (son of a sexton) nor the history of Western thought. This history is fully put to the task of working out his own thought, that of Schelling and the resulting transformations in both understand the translator and the reader. If you try to "figure" this work out you will miss the poetry. If you "simply love" this work you may too easily move on to the "next thing" that is exciting. Are you ready? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Heidegger and the Problem of Knowledge
Amazon offered the best prize deal so I purchased the book and got it on time ... Read more

Book Description
This book, the first comprehensive study in English of Heidegger's philosophy of art, starts in the mid-1930s with Heidegger's discussion of the Greek temple and his Hegelian declaration that a great artwork gathers together an entire culture in affirmative celebration of its foundational 'truth', and that, by this criterion, art in modernity is 'dead'. His subsequent work on Hölderlin, whom he later identified as the decisive influence on his mature philosophy, led him into a passionate engagement with the art of Rilke, Cézanne, Klee and Zen Buddhism, liberating him not only from the overly restrictive conception of art of the mid-1930s but also from the disastrous politics of the period. Drawing on material hitherto unknown in the anglophone world, Young establishes a new account of Heidegger's philosophy of art and shows that his famous essay 'The Origin of the Work of Art' is its beginning, not its end. ... Read more

Book Description

This work explores the troubled relationship and unfinished intellectual dialogue between Paul Celan, regarded by many as the most important European poet after 1945, and Martin Heidegger, perhaps the most influential figure in twentieth-century philosophy. It centers on the persistent ambivalence Celan, a Holocaust survivor, felt toward a thinker who respected him and at times promoted his poetry. Celan, although strongly affected by Heidegger's writings, struggled to reconcile his admiration of Heidegger's ideas on literature with his revulsion at the thinker's Nazi past. That Celan and Heidegger communicated with each other over a number of years, and in a controversial encounter, met in 1967, is well known. The full duration, extent, and nature of their exchanges and their impact on Celan's poetics has been less understood, however.

In the first systematic analysis of their relationship between 1951 and 1970, James K. Lyon describes how the poet and the philosopher read and responded to each other's work throughout the period. He offers new information about their interactions before, during, and after their famous 1967 meeting at Todtnauberg. He suggests that Celan, who changed his account of that meeting, may have contributed to misreadings of his poem "Todtnauberg." Finally, Lyon discusses their two last meetings after 1967 before the poet's death three years later.

Drawing heavily on documentary material -- including Celan's reading notes on more than two dozen works by Heidegger, the philosopher's written response to the poet's "Meridian" speech, and references to Heidegger in Celan's letters -- Lyon presents a focused perspective on this critical aspect of the poet's intellectual development and provides important insights into his relationship with Heidegger, transforming previous conceptions of it.

Book Description
EXISTENCE AND BEING by MARTIN HEIDEGGER With an introduction by WERNER BROCK DR. PHIL HENRY REGNERY COMPANY CHICAGO . ILLINOIS 1949 Made and Printed in Great Britain by Edward Charles Straker Ltd 12-13 St. Johns Square London ECI MCMXLIX CONTENTS PAGE Foreword 9 Introduction 13 Prefatory Note 16 A Brief Outline of the Career of M. Heidegger 20 An Account of Being and Time 25 1. The three main problems Dasein, Time and Being. The project and the published version 25 2. Some aspects of the analysis of Dasein 40 3. Dasein and Temporality 67 4. Some reflections on the significance of the work 121 An Account of The Four Essays 132 1. A brief general characterisation of the four essays 132 2. On the Essence of Truth 142 3. The Essays on Friedrich Holderlin 183 4. What is Metaphysics 218 CONTENTS PAGE Note 249 Remembrance of the Poet 251 Translated by Douglas Scott Holderlin and the Essence of Poetry 291 Translated by Douglas Scott On the Essence of Truth 317 Translated by R. F. C. Hull and Alan Crick What is Metaphysics 353 Translated by R. F. C. Hull and Alan Crick Notes 394 Warum 1st iiberhaupt Seiendes und nicht vielmehr Nichts Das Nichts als das Andere zum Seienden 1st der Schleier des Seins. MARTIN HEIDEGGER FOREWORD In appearance, Professor Heidegger is short and slight his hair is thick and jet black with occasional white streaks. When he emerged from the small skiing hut, high up in the mountains, to greet me, he was dressed in the costume of a Swabian peasant, a dress he often also used to wear when he was Rector of Freiburg University. His heavy, squarish skiing boots it was summer emphasised still more strongly his relationship to the soil. He was born in 1889, in Messkirch and his brother still farms in the region. Martin Heidegger, too, has never left it When Hitler called him to Berlin in 1935, he rejected the offer. The world had to come to him, to Freiburg. There he lives, with Hellingraths edition of Holderlins works. This closeness to Holderlin is no accident but an essential key to an understanding of Heideggers own philosophy. For Holderlin came from the same physical region, he faced the same spiritual problems, and he experienced more lucidly and bitterly the ultimate meaning of nothingness than any other person who could give expression to it in song. The parallel with Heidegger is close, indeed, if thought is substituted for song. On both occasions when I met Professor Heidegger, in June, 1946, and in October, 1947, I had to drive for an hour to the small town of Todtnau in the Black 9 EXISTENCE AND BEING Forest Mountains, then to climb still further until the road became a path and all human habitation scattered and invisible There on top of a mountain, with the valley deep down below, with nothing but space and wilderness all around, in that small skiing hut, I spoke to the philosopher. He had not been to Freiburg for six months when I saw him for the second time. His living conditions were primitive his books were few, and his only relationship to the world was a stack of writing paper. His whole life revolved within those white sheets and it seemed to me that he wanted nothing else but to be left in peace to cover those white sheets with his writing. The atmosphere of silence all around provided a faith ful setting for Heideggers philosophy. I could not help comparing it with the atmosphere I had encountered in the house of Professor Berdyaev near Paris and that of Professor Jaspers in Heidelberg. In every case, the ex ternal world faithfully reflected the world of the mind. In Berdyaev s case it was the spirit of communion in Jasperss that of spiritual engagement. But in Heideg gers case it was the spirit of overwhelming solitude. With the four essays in this book, which Professor Heidegger gave me, this much-discussed philosopher now appears for the first time before the English-speaking world. As Professor Heidegger pointed out to me, the four essays are complementary and have an organic unity... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Philosophy, some on poetry, with a great ending
This is a good book for introducing a form of thinking that may be called for on special occasions, when people have to consider what is not truly mundane.My second-hand copy of this book, the Gateway edition, published 1979, based on the First American edition published 1949, begins with a long attempt to explain Heidegger's main early work, BEING AND TIME, Part I.(1927).Way back then "only the first two out of six planned sections of the book were published."(p. 8).I thought that the explanation by Werner Brock took too long to get to the items by Heidegger which finally appear from page 233 to the end of this book.As an example of the explanation for what is included, I would like to quote the following paragraph:

Some of the critics seem to think that there has been a considerable change in Heidegger's outlook, if not immediately after the publication of "Being and Time," at least since the first essay on Hoelderlin (1936).I for one do not share in this opinion.In my view, the themes of all the four essays, but especially of the two philosophical ones, are directly and most intimately related to "Being and Time," but not so much to the first two published Sections as rather to the third one on "Time and Being."(p. 119).

Heidegger's Inaugural Lecture, "What is Metaphysics?" is included at the end of this book.On page 349, an undated "Postscript" admits that "The question `What is Metaphysics?' remains a question.For those who persevere with this question the following postscript is more of a foreword."The obstacles encountered in the preceding lecture are described as "good.It will make our questioning more genuine."(p. 351).The first of the "misgivings and misconceptions to which the lecture gives rise" has been "The lecture makes `Nothing' the sole subject of metaphysics."(p. 352).The other problems are explained as mood problems we acquire when we do not "shut our ears to the soundless voice which attunes us to the horrors of the abyss" (p. 354) through such a concept."Without Being, whose unfathomable and manifest essence is vouchsafed us by Nothing in essential dread, everything that `is' would remain in Beinglessness."(pp. 353-354).

After long consideration of "Nothing, conceived as the pure `Other' than what-is, is the veil of Being," (p. 360) comes some ancient Greek described as the last poem of a tragedy, "Oedipus in Colonos" by Sophocles, and at last, an English translation that also seems fair enough to be remembered on Memorial Day, 2003:

But cease now, and nevermore
Lift up the lament:
For all this is determined. ... Read more

Book Description
"With thematic trajectories pointing both toward and beyond Being and Time, this translation . . . is of enormous significance for students of the development of Heidegger's early thought."--Daniel O. Dahlstrom, Boston University

Ontology follows Heidegger's lectures at the University of Freiburg during the summer semester of 1923. In these lectures, Heidegger reviews and makes critical appropriation of the hermeneutical tradition from Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine to Schleiermacher and Dilthey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

FASCINATING AND CHALLENGING
This translation of Heidegger's lectures at Freiburg during the summer of 1923 represents an important event in English-speaking Heidegger scholarship.Van Buren has done a masterful job, and rendered us all a real service.

This lecture contains some of the most interesting material from Heidegger's entire corpus.His historical analysis of hermeneutics and of the concept of "man" in the Western philosophical tradition are only the beginning - the whole lecture is simply riveting.Anyone with an interest in Heidegger needs to own this book.The same goes for those who have only heard of Heidegger from the blithering obscurantists who pass themselves off as "scholars."Here is Heidegger addressing issues of real philosophical import with insight and lucidity.A fascinating and challenging piece! ... Read more

Book Description
Anselm Kiefer and the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger is a work of cultural history that situates the art works of one of the most important contemporarypainters in relation to the existential, phenomenological and hermeneutic philosophy of Heidegger. Analyzing the development of Kiefer's art in terms of subjectivity, intersubjectivity, history, and technology, Matthew Biro demonstrates that the artist's subjects reflect and transform the philosopher's theoretical interests and intellectual development. The works of Kiefer and Heidegger, Biro argues, present a constellation of issues that unite German art and theory for most of the twentieth century. Showing the aesthetic relevance of the three stages of Heidegger's philosophical thought to Kiefer's work, this book also demonstrates the impact of Kiefer's art works on contemporary art and theory. ... Read more

Book Description
Martin Heidegger's 1942 lecture course interprets Friedrich Hölderlin's hymn "The Ister" within the context of Hölderlin's poetic and philosophical work, with particular emphasis on Hölderlin's dialogue with Greek tragedy.Revealing of Heidegger's thought of the period are his discussions of the meaning of "the political" and "the national," in which he emphasizes the difficulty and the necessity of finding "one's own" in and through a dialogue with "the foreign." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Heidegger's "Later" Thinking
This is one of the most important of Heidegger's "later" texts that deals with the question of how we may recover what is most proper to a people by encountering the other. The poetic discussion of the Greek Ister and the journeys that it take serves as an image for an encounter which will unveil the proper of the people.

The text will be of great importance for those who are engaged in the study of Heidegger, Levinas and Holderlin's thinking.

Typically Great Lecture Course by Heidegger
This lecture course from 1942 has as its subject Holderlin's poem "The Ister."The Ister is the river known in English as the Danube, a river that marked the edge of the Roman Empire, and that roughly divides Eastern and Western Europe.Heidegger's reading of Holderlin leads us to reflect on the nature of nature: there is a spontaneous emergence of reality that provides the insurpassable context for all our life, all our experience, all meaning.Reflecting on the river is reflecting on this _phusis_ in its specificity and singularity, and becomes a way for us to reflect on the most profound dimensions of our existence--our mortality, our creativity, our ability to care--in their most creatively transformative and in their must destructive forms.The reflection on Holderlin and on the river leads especially into reflection on technology (especially as embodied in Americanism) and its dangers, and on art and its powers.Though the lecture course is officially about Holderlin's poem, much of the course is devoted to careful study of Sophocles _Antigone_, which Heidegger sees as closely related to _der Ister_ in what is makes manifest about nature and humanity.The reflections on _Antigone_ especially lead into reflections on the _polis_.These political reflections of course resonate with the prominent political events of the day--Nazi Europe facing the American West and the USSR to the East.This is a provocative, brilliant, and difficult text, well worth study by those interested in continental philosophy, Greek literature, technology, and many other topics.The film "The Ister," that was made to accompany this text is also excellent, and works wonderfully as a complement to Heidegger and to the texts of Holderlin and Sophocles.I recommend this highly. ... Read more

Book Description
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is probably the most divisive philosopher of the twentieth century.Considered by some to be the greatest charlatan ever to claim the title of 'philosopher', by some as an apologist for Nazism, he was also an acknowledged leader and central figure to many philosophers. Michael Inwood's lucid introduction to Heidegger's thought focuses on his most important work, 'Being and Time', and its major themes of existence in the world, inauthenticity, guilt, destiny, truth, and the nature of time.These themes are then reassessed in the light of Heidegger's later work, together with the extent of his philosophical importance and influence.This is an invaluable guide to the complex and voluminous thought of a major twentieth-century existentialist philosopher. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

On the whole, a very competent introduction
Inwood has produced what is, on the whole, an admirable introduction to Heidegger's thought that I found very useful.His suggestions for further study were also very helpful.However, the final chapter, where he discusses the serious issue of Heidegger's Nazism, struck me as an exercise in blatant apologetics, peppered with lame excuses for why we should simply overlook or forgive Heidegger's involvement with National Socialism.I would have given the book four stars were it not for this.

Fine intro to a difficult subject
Heidegger was an obfuscator of the first order.Still, he had much to say as well as much influence on academia today.He is therefore worth getting to know.Rather then wade through several hundred pages of the deliberately (imo) opaque text in Being and Time, as I mistakenly did, this would be a nice start.

Truth is, Heidegger's ideas are not all that complex, it is his language that gives the appearence of difficult thought.Inwood clarifies but succeeds in avoiding over simplification. Still, I believe someone could do an even better job of presenting Heidegger's thought to the average reader.

Definitely recommended over any of those cartoon books on Heidegger which are not only too simple, but extremely dishonest and innacurate.

A standard academic treatment of Heidegger.
This is your standard garden-variety academic treatment of Heidegger, alright so far as it goes, but rather dry reading. One interesting feature is its short 4-page Glossary of Heidegger's German terminology. It also has an index in which one notes the total absence of any mention of Buddhism, Mahayana, Zen, or the 'Tao Te Ching' (a text which Heidegger worked on), despite the fact that Heidegger's thought quite often reminds one of the great Taoist and Buddhist thinkers.

Anyone new to Heidegger who is looking for a good Introductory survey of the man and his thought would do much better to take a look at George Steiner's 'Martin Heidegger.' In contrast to Inwood, Steiner writes with real passion and leaves one with a desire to know more about this amazing thinker. In fact, Steiner's book is so good that you'll probably want to read it again. I was left wishing it had been two or three times longer.

A standard academic treatment of Heidegger.
This your standard garden-variety academic treatment of Heidegger, alright so far as it goes, but rather dry reading. One interesting feature is its short 4-page Glossary of Heidegger's German terminology.It also has an index in which one notes the total absence of any mention of Buddhism, Mahayana, Zen, or the 'Tao Te Ching' (a text which Heidegger worked on), despite the fact that Heidegger's thought quite often reminds one of the great Taoist and Buddhist thinkers.

Anyone new to Heidegger who is looking for a good Introductory survey of the man and his thought would do much better to take a look at George Steiner's 'Martin Heidegger.'In contrast to Inwood, Steiner writes with real passion and leaves one with a desire to know more about this amazing thinker.In fact, Steiner's book isso good that you'll probably want to read it again.I was left wishing it had been two or three times longer.

Best "short" Introduction
This is the best short introduction to Heidegger's philosophy.The appendix covers a small dictionary on some of Heidegger's terms, which is very helpful for readers. ... Read more