Heidegger is perhaps the most influential, yet least readily understood, philosopher of the last century. Mark A. Wrathall unpacks Heidegger's dense prose and guides the reader through Heidegger's early concern with the nature of human existence and his later preoccupation with the threat that technology poses to our ability to live worthwhile lives. Wrathall pays particular attention to Heidegger's revolutionary analysis of human existence as inextricably shaped by a shared world. This leads to an exploration of his views on the banality of public life and the possibility of authentic anticipation of death as a response to that banality. Wrathall reviews Heidegger's scandalous involvement with National Socialism, situating it in the context of his views about the movement of world history. He also explains Heidegger's important accounts of truth, art and language. Extracts are taken from Heidegger's magnum opus, Being and Time, as well as a variety of his best-known essays and lectures.

'These [How to Read] books let you encounter thinkers eyeball to eyeball by analysing passages from their work' Terry Eagleton, New Statesman

About the Author
Mark Wrathall is Professor of Philosophy at Brigham Young University. He has edited and co-edited a number of volumes on Heidegger's thought, including Heidegger Reexamined; Appropriating Heidegger; Heidegger, Coping and Cognitive Science, and Heidegger, Authenticity and Modernity. He has been appointed as the co-editor of the forthcoming Blackwell Companion to Heidegger.

Reviews
Thinking is not inactivity, but rather it is in itself the way of acting that stands in dialogue with the destiny of the world' Martin Heidegger



Book Information
ISBN 9781862077669
Author Mark Wrathall
Format Paperback
Page Count 128
Imprint Granta Books
Publisher Granta Books
Weight(grams) 117g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 10mm