Introduction to Metaphysics

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book, but still politically controversial.
Review: Heidegger's `Introduction to Metaphysics' was banned in Germany until the early 1950s. Why? Some aspects of Heidegger's rhetoric, and certain passages, e.g., "The greatness of National Socialism ... ", lended themselves to Nazism. Written in the 1930s, `An Introduction to Metaphysics' maintains Heidegger's muddled and still unclear association with Nazism regarding his philosophy. His membership in the party still casts a long and many would say daming shadow over his philosophy. However, this work is still fascinating and, when read with Nazi filters, rewarding because in this work Heidegger introduces many of his preoccupations that will dominate his thinking after his turn (`Kehre'), e.g., truth, metaphysics, etc.. I studied it closely for my thesis and what is problematic is Heidegger's equation of the `power of the polis' with truth-Being. Power-truth siding on the power of the state and not the individual of liberalism is what needs attention. He moves radically away from this in later thinking. Heidegger is no democrat, but whether he is a full blown Nazi is up to the reader to decide. A must read for philosophers and historians of the period.

Rating:
Summary: great new translation
Review: Heidegger's `Introduction to Metaphysics' was banned in Germany until the early 1950s. Why? Some aspects of Heidegger's rhetoric, and certain passages, e.g., "The greatness of National Socialism ... ", lended themselves to Nazism. Written in the 1930s, `An Introduction to Metaphysics' maintains Heidegger's muddled and still unclear association with Nazism regarding his philosophy. His membership in the party still casts a long and many would say daming shadow over his philosophy. However, this work is still fascinating and, when read with Nazi filters, rewarding because in this work Heidegger introduces many of his preoccupations that will dominate his thinking after his turn (`Kehre'), e.g., truth, metaphysics, etc.. I studied it closely for my thesis and what is problematic is Heidegger's equation of the `power of the polis' with truth-Being. Power-truth siding on the power of the state and not the individual of liberalism is what needs attention. He moves radically away from this in later thinking. Heidegger is no democrat, but whether he is a full blown Nazi is up to the reader to decide. A must read for philosophers and historians of the period.

Rating:
Summary: great new translation
Review: This translation is a long overdue revisitation of the first of Heidegger's books to appesar in an English version. This short book is an excellent introduction to Heidegger's thought in the 30s. The 30s were his most "Nietzschean" period, and also his most controversial period, because of his support at the time for the Nazi party. The 30s also acquired something of a legendary status among Heidegger scholars because it was then that he was working on his "Contributions to Philosophy". Otto Poeggeler (privileged with access to Heidegger's manuscripts) had been saying for years that the "Beitraege" was Heidegger's most important work, which made many people naturally curious about this work. When it finally appeared (in 1989, an English translation appeared in 2000) it proved to be as daunting a text as "Being and Time". The "Introduction to Metaphysics" dates from the same time, and could well be thought of as a companion piece to the much more challenging "Contributions to Philosophy."

Rating:
Summary: The Easiest to Read & Most Interesting Heidegger Book
Review: What a great book. I may of read about 4 to 5 Martin Heidegger books & this book flowed because it was easy to read. Well, the first part of the book was easy, got a little lost in the "Being As Thinking" section. His philosophy, minus the so-called...certain influence, helped me give up my Platonic ways of thinking. Martin Heidegger starts off trying to ask the most basic axiom "Why are there BEINGs at all instead of Nothing" goes through a brief history of the main words, tears the words & main question apart, & puts the words & question back together again. Then he explains how BEING turns into BECOMING (how things change), APPEARANCE (how things influence our senses), THINKING (How & what we think about our experience), & the OUGHT (The way things "Should" or "Could" BE). Basic conclusion: Western Philosophy started out correct with the pre-Platonic philosophers asking what BEING was & then after Plato the debate became about mind over matter while losing the original meaning & questions about BEING (Reality). A Must Read!