Martin Heidegger (Routledge Critical Thinkers) - Softcover

Clark, Timothy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415229294 ISBN 13: 9780415229296

Publisher: Routledge, 2001

Synopsis

Since the publication of Being and Time (1927), Martin Heidegger has remained one of the most influential figures in contemporary thought. Until now, however, there has been no clear introduction to his crucial work on art, language and poetry for students of literary and cultural studies. This guidebook provides an ideal entry-point for readers new to Heidegger, touching upon such issues and concepts as:
*The limits of 'theory'
*The history of being
*The origin of the work of art
*Language
*The literary work
*Poetry and the political.
The author also introduces the recent controversy of Heidegger's involvement with Nazism.
Heidegger is not an 'easy' thinker. However, he is a crucial thinker. This accessible volume transforms the daunting task of reading Heidegger into an exciting and necessary challenge.

About this title

About the Author

Timothy Clark is based at Durham University. He is co-editor of the Oxford Literary Review and author of Derrida, Heidegger, Blanchot: Sources of Derrida's Notion and Practice of Literature (1992) and The Theory of Inspiration (2000).

Reviews

Although Martin Heidegger seems to be most often remembered today for his collaboration with the Nazis, his revolutionary philosophical ideas provide the seeds for the postmodern philosophies of thinkers as diverse as Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Hans Georg Gadamer. While most studies of Heidegger focus on the philosophy of Being (Dasein) he espoused in the monumental Being and Time, Clark (The Theory of Inspiration) offers the first study of Heidegger's philosophy of language and literature. Through a close reading of Heidegger's famous lecture, "The Origin of the Work of Art," and his "elucidations" on the German Romantic poet Helderlin, Clark demonstrates that poetry resists the domination and control of traditional metaphysics, opening up its own space for knowing the world and being in it. Clark nimbly explains Heidegger's difficult philosophical concepts with a series of boxed illustrations and chapter summaries. In spite of Clark's efforts, though, his book requires some previous acquaintance with Heidegger, postmodernity, literary criticism, and philosophy. Since the book is narrowly focused, only academic libraries and public libraries that serve a large college population should purchase it. For public libraries, Rediger Safranski's Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil (LJ 3/15/98) remains the standard study. Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Lancaster, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415229294
• ISBN 13: 9780415229296
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 204