Commentary

[in chronological order]

Understanding Heidegger on Technology by Mark Blitz

- Blitz, Mark, "Understanding Heidegger on Technology," The New Atlantis, Winter: 2014.
Excerpt: Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) was perhaps the most divisive philosopher of the twentieth century. Many hold him to be the most original and important thinker of his era. Others spurn him as an obscurantist and a charlatan, while still others see his… More

The Place of Prejudice

- Sandel, Adam. The Place of Prejudice: A Case for Reasoning Within the World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014.
Today we associate prejudice with ignorance and bigotry and consider it a source of injustice. So how can prejudice have a legitimate place in moral and political judgment? In this ambitious work, Adam Sandel shows that prejudice, properly understood, is not… More

The Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Heidegger and Being and Time

- Mulhall, Stephen. The Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Heidegger and Being and Time. London: Routledge, 2013.
Synopsis: The Routledge Guidebook to Heidegger’s Being and Time explores: 1)The context of Heidegger’s work and the background to his writing; 2) Each separate part of the text in relation to its goals, meanings and impact; 3) The reception the book… More

Natural Reich

- Blitz, Mark. "Natural Reich." The Weekly Standard, February 8, 2010.
A review of Heidegger: The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy in Light of the Unpublished Seminars of 1933-1935 by Emmauel Faye, translated by Michael B. Smith. Yale University Press, 2009. “This book, which appeared in 2005 in France and is… More

Heidegger: The Man and the Thinker

- Sheehan, Thomas ed. Heidegger: The Man and the Thinker. Chicago: Transaction, 2009.
Synopsis: Many people consider Martin Heidegger the most important German philosopher of the twentieth century. He is indisputably controversial and influential. Athough much has been written about Heidegger, this may be the best single volume covering his… More

Philosophical Hermeneutics

- Gadamer, Hans-Georg, and David Edward Linge. Philosophical Hermeneutics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008.
Synopsis: This excellent collection contains 13 essays from Gadamer’s Kleine Schriften, dealing with hermeneutical reflection, phenomenology, existential philosophy, and philosophical hermeneutics. Gadamer applies hermeneutical analysis to Heidegger… More

Heidegger’s Analytic: Interpretation, Discourse, and Authenticity in Being and Time

- Carmen, Taylor. Heidegger’s Analytic: Interpretation, Discourse, and Authenticity in Being and Time. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Synopsis: Unlike those who view Heidegger as an idealist, Taylor Carman asserts that Heidegger is best understood as a realist and offers a new interpretation of his major work, Being and Time. Among the book’s distinctive features are an interpretation… More

The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger Edited by Charles Guignon

-  Guignon, Charles B. Editor. The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
This volume contains introductory essays by leading Heidegger scholars on various aspects of his life and thought, including his most important work, Being and Time. In addition there are discussions of Heidegger’s thought in relation to mysticism,… More

“The Principle of Phenomenology”

- Carmen, Taylor. “The Principle of Phenomenology.” In The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
In this essay, Taylor Carmen examines the role of phenomenology in Heidegger’s thought and Heidegger’s relationship to the founder of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl.

Heidegger’s Being and Time: Critical Essays

- Polt, Richard ed. Heidegger’s Being and Time: Critical Essays. Lanhham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Synopsis: Heidegger’s Being and Time: Critical Essays provides a variety of recent studies of Heidegger’s most important work. Twelve prominent scholars, representing diverse nationalities, generations, and interpretive approaches deal with… More

Heidegger: An Introduction

- Polt, Richard. Heidegger: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 1999.
Synopsis: Richard Polt provides a lively and accessible introduction to one of the most influential and intellectually demanding philosophers of the modern era. Covering the entire range of Heidegger’s thought, Polt skillfully communicates the essence… More

Martin Heidegger and European Nihilism

- Löwith, Karl, and Richard Wolin. Martin Heidegger and European Nihilism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Synopsis: Written by a former student of Heidegger, this book examines the relationship between the philosophy and the politics of a celebrated teacher and the allure that Nazism held out for scholars committed to revolutionary nihilism.

Heidegger and Arendt: The Fate of the Political

- Villa, Dana. Heidegger and Arendt: The Fate of the Political. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Synopsis: Theodor Adorno once wrote an essay to “defend Bach against his devotees.” In this book Dana Villa does the same for Hannah Arendt, whose sweeping reconceptualization of the nature and value of political action, he argues, has been… More

“Heidegger, Language, and Ecology”

- Taylor, Charles. “Heidegger, Language, and Ecology.” In Philosophical Arguments. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Excerpt: I want to offer a reading of Heidegger’s views on language which places him within the context of the revolutionary change in the understanding of language and art that took place in the late eighteenth century in Germany. I believe this is the… More

“Death, Time, History: Division II of Being and Time”

- Hoffman, Piotr. “Death, Time, History: Division II of Being and Time.” In The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Excerpt: This certainty, that “I myself am in that I will die” is the basic certainty of Dasein itself. . . . The MORIBUNDUS first gives the SUM its sense. (HCT 316-17) Only in dying can I to some extent say absolutely, “I am.” (HCT 318) Modern… More

Demythologizing Heidegger

- Caputo, J.D. Demythologyzing Heidegger. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1981.
Synopsis: A readable chronological consideration of Heidegger’s texts that assesses his achievement as a thinker, while pointing to the sources of his political and ethical failure. Caputo addresses the religious significance of Heidegger’s thought.… More

Martin Heidegger: A Political Life

- Ott, Hugo and Allen Blunden. Martin Heidegger: A Political Life. Hammersmith, London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1993.
A documented account of how Heidegger came to embrace and promote Nazism, with fateful consequences for both his thought and German intellectual life in general.

The Question of Being by Stanley Rosen

- Rosen, Stanley. The Question of Being: A Reversal of Heidegger. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Synopsis: In this book, Rosen enters into a debate with Heidegger in order to provide a justification for metaphysics. Rosen presents a fresh interpretation of metaphysics that opposes the traditional doctrines attacked by Heidegger, on the one hand, and by… More

“Heidegger and the Hermeneutic Turn”

- Hoy, David Couzens. “Heidegger and the Hermeneutic Turn.” In The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Synopsis: “The closing decades of this century have been marked by a wideranging, multidisciplinary exploration of the theory of interpretation and its practical implications. To speak of a revolution in the history of thought is perhaps too grand, but… More

Heidegger: Through Phenomenology to Thought

- Richardson, William J. Heidegger: Through Phenomenology to Thought. New York: Fordham University Press, 2003.
This book, one of the most frequently cited works on Martin Heidegger in any language, belongs on any short list of classic studies of Continental philosophy. William J. Richardson explores the famous turn (Kehre) in Heidegger’s thought after Being in… More

The Heidegger Controversy: A Critical Reader

- Wolin, Richard ed. The Heidegger Controversy: A Critical Reader. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993.
Synopsis: This anthology is a significant contribution to the debate over the relevance of Martin Heidegger’s Nazi ties to the interpretation and evaluation of his philosophical work. Included are a selection of basic documents by Heidegger, essays and… More

Martin Heidegger’s Path of Thinking

- Pöggeler, Otto, D. Margurshak and S. Barber. Martin Heidegger's Path of Thinking. Amherst, NY: Humanity, 1991.
Synopsis: This book offers a rich introduction to Heidegger that reveals Poggeler’s sound scholarship and philosophical criticism.

Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger’s Being and Time, Division I

- Dreyfus, Hubert L. Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger’s Being and Time, Division I. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.
Synopsis: Being-in-the-World is a guide to one of the most influential philosophical works of this century: Division I of Part One of Being and Time, where Martin Heidegger works out an original and powerful account of being-in-the-world which he then uses… More

The Politics of Being by Richard Wolin

- Wolin, Richard. The Politics of Being: The Political Thought of Martin Heidegger. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
Synopsis: This study reconstructs the relationship between philosophy and politics in the way in which Heidegger’s failure as a politician influenced the redevelopment of philosophy in the 1930s. The author also explains how Heidegger’s failure… More

Heidegger’s Confrontation with Modernity: Technology, Politics, and Art

- Zimmerman, Micahel. Heidegger’s Confrontation with Modernity: Technology, Politics, and Art. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
Synopsis: “Writing in a lively and refreshingly clear American English, Zimmerman provides an uncompromisingly honest and judicious account… of Heidegger’s views on technology and his involvement with National Socialism…. One of the most… More

Martin Heidegger and National Socialism: Questions and Answers.

- Neske, Günther, and Emil Kettering. Martin Heidegger and National Socialism: Questions and Answers. New York, NY: Paragon House, 1990.
From Publishers Weekly: Victor Farias dealt a blow to Heidegger’s reputation with his 1987 book Heidegger and Nazism. Now comes this damage-control exercise, a collection of essays, interviews and comments in defense of Heidegger, edited by Neske, the… More

“Work and Weltanschauung: The Heidegger Controversy from a German Perspective.”

- Habermas, Jurgen. “Work and Weltanschauung: The Heidegger Controversy from a German Perspective.” The New Conservatism: Cultural Criticism and the Historians’ Debate. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Author’s Introduction: “This text was originally written as the foreword to the German edition of Victor Farias’ book, Heidegger et le Nazisme (1988). I believe a separate publication is warranted because certain aspects of the general issue… More

Truth and Method

- Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and Method. Translated by Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall. Rev. ed. New York: Continuum, 1989.
Synopsis: Written in the 1960s, Truth and Method is Gadamer’s magnum opus. Looking behind the self-consciousness of science, he discusses the tense relationship between truth and methodology. In examining the different experiences of truth, he aims to… More

Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition, Deconstruction, and the Hermeneutic Project

- Caputo, J.D. Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition, Deconstruction, and the Hermeneutic Project. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.
“This is a remarkable book: wide-ranging, resonant, and well-written; it is also reflective and personable, warm and engaging.” —Philosophy and Literature For John D. Caputo, hermeneutics means radical thinking without transcendental… More

Is There a Measure On Earth? Foundations for a Nonmetaphysical Ethics

- Marx, Werner, Thomas J. Nenon and Reginald Lilly. Is There a Measure On Earth? Foundations For a Nonmetaphysical Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Synopsis: The search for an ethics rooted in human experience is the crux of this deeply compassionate work, here translated from the 1983 German edition. Distinguished philosopher Werner Marx provides a close reading, critique, and Weiterdenken, or… More

Eclipse of the Self: The Development of Heidegger’s Concept of Authenticity

- Zimmerman, Michael. Eclipse of the Self: The Development of Heidegger’s Concept of Authenticity. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1986.
Synopsis: Although it is sometimes said that Martin Heidegger’s later philosophy no longer concerned itself with the theme of authenticity so crucial to Being and Time (1927), this book argues that his interest in authenticity was always strong. After… More

Hegel, Heidegger, and the Ground of History

- Gillespie, Michael Allen. Hegel, Heidegger, and the Ground of History. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
Synopsis: This thoughtful and stimulating work boldly takes on the task of assessing the thought of both Hegel and Heidegger. Gillespie seeks to explain how these two philosophers have tried to understand what history means when taken as a whole, and what… More

Heidegger and the Problem of Knowledge

- Guignon, Charles. Heidegger and the Problem of Knowledge. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983.
Synopsis: “The best book-length treatment of Heidegger with which I am familiar…What Guignon does, very skillfully, is to use the problem of knowledge as a focus for organizing a discussion of Heidegger’s thought in its entirety…Places… More

Heidegger Memorial Lectures

- Gadamer, Hans Georg and Werner Marx. Heidegger Memorial Lectures. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, January 1, 1982.

Heidegger’s Being and Time by Mark Blitz

- Blitz, Mark. Heidegger’s Being and Time and the Possibility of Political Philosophy. Cornell University Press, 1981.
Synopsis: Heidegger’s Being and Time (1927) challenged earlier thinking about the basic structures of human being, our involvement in practical affairs, and our understanding of history, time, and being. Mark Blitz clarifies Heidegger’s… More

Martin Heidegger

- Steiner, George. Martin Heidegger. New York: Viking, 1978.  
Synopsis:In Martin Heidegger, George Steiner delves into the life and work of the prolific German philosopher. His deft analysis lays bare the intricacies of Heidegger’s work and his influence on modern society, offering a clear and accessible analysis of… More

Heidegger’s Politics

- Marcuse, Herbert and Frederick Olafson. “Heidegger’s Politics.” Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, 6 (Winter 1977): 28-40.
Excerpt: Olafson: Professor Marcuse, you are very widely known as a social philosopher and a Marxist; but I think there are relatively few who know that Martin Heidegger and his philosophy played a considerable role in your intellectual career. Perhaps we… More

Heidegger As A Political Thinker

- Harries, Karsten. "Heidegger As A Political Thinker." The Review of Metaphysics. Vol. 29, No. 4 (Jun., 1976), pp. 642-669.
Excerpt: Asked whether, in the light of recent attempts to use philosophy to change our goals and to help transform society, he saw a social mission for his philosophy, Heidegger gave a negative reply: “If one wants to answer this question, one has to… More

Heidegger and the Tradition

- Marx, Werner. Heidegger and the Tradition. Translated by Theodore Kisiel and Murray Greene. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1971.
Synopsis: A view of Heidegger’s divergence from the traditional philosophies of reason written by Werner Marx a German professor of philosophy at The University of Freiburg and an expert on Heidegger’s thought.

Nihilism: A Philosophical Essay

- Rosen, Stanley. Nihilism: A Philosophical Essay. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969.
Editorial Reviews: “The growing importance of reason in philosophy concerns Stanley Rosen in this essay. Rosen’s primary objective is to defend Plato and classical philosophy against Martin Heidegger’s radical existentialist criticism. . . .… More

Heidegger, Being, and Truth

- Versenyi, Laszlo. Heidegger, Being, and Truth. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965.
The author’s investigation follows the development of Heidegger’s thought from his rejection of traditional Western philosophy as too subjectivistic and humanistic, through his attempt to make his own philosophy less man-bound, to his success in… More

Heidegger by Michael Gillespie

- Gillespie, Michael. "Heidegger." Ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, The History of Political Philosophy. University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Excerpt: “Martin Heidegger was the first philosopher since Plato and Aristotle seriously to consider the question of Being. Indeed his devotion to this question has marked him out as the preeminent continental European philosopher of the twentieth… More