Martin Heidegger and the Problem of Historical Meaning (Phaenomenologica, 102) - Hardcover

Barash, A Jeffrey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9024734932 ISBN 13: 9789024734931

Publisher: Springer, 1987

Synopsis

In a few pages I would like to express and to justify my admiration for the exceptional book of Jeffrey Barash. His training as an his­ torian, complemented by that of the philosopher, has served him richly, not only in the discovery of rare texts and of unpublished correspondence but in the reconstruction of the philosophical landscape at the beginning of the century, and then in the period between the two wars. Standing out in the foreground of this land­ scape are the two mountains constituted by Sein und Zeit and Hei­ degger's work following the Kehre. This reconstruction by no means intends to establish 'influences' in the mediocre, mechanis­ tic sense, but rather subterranean continuities between Heidegger's work and his intellectual environment in order to enhance, by the effect of their contrast, the specific intelligibility of this work. In order to appreciate the consequences of continuity as well as of discontinuity, it was necessary to identify and to emphasize a touchstone-question, endowed with the quality of great per­ durability, and to summon before it all of the protagonists, in­ cluding Heidegger himself, in an intellectual combat dating back nearly a hundred years. Announced in the title of the work, this question concerns historical meaning. By this term the author wanted to designate the stubborn ques­ tion, most exactly approximated by the term coherence in its ap­ plication to history.

About this title

About the Author

Jeffrey Andrew Barash is Professeur des Universités at the Université d’Amiens and has published widely on political philosophy, phenomenology, and modern German thought.

Review

“A fine account of Heidegger’s intellectual development. . . . insightful and well-structured.” (―The Journal of Modern History)

Centering on historical thought in Heidegger's philosophy, Barash addresses the problems of truth criteria and relativism. (―University of Chicago Magazine)

Makes an important contribution to Heidegger studies on two counts. First, it clarifies several ambiguous elements of Heidegger's early intellectual development. Second, it considers Heidegger from a new point of view. . . superior analysis . . . a necessary source. (―Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale)

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9024734932
• ISBN 13: 9789024734931
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 340