Description
The letters he sent her are snapshots of the ups and downs, the crises and everyday minutiae from Heidegger's life: their engagement, the building of the Cabin at Todtnauberg, the part he played in the two world wars, the difficulties of his early professional career, their financial problems, his dealings with women, and his constant concern with expounding his ideas.
Apart from three letters now in the hands of the German Literature Archive in Marbach, Elfride Heidegger kept all of the countless letters and cards from her husband locked away in a wooden chest. After reading them one final time, in 1977 she gave the key to this chest to her granddaughter Gertrud Heidegger on condition that she should not open it until after Elfride's death. After years spent deciphering, transcribing and ordering the letters with the help of her father and her uncle, Gertrud Heidegger has here made a selection of them available to the public and added a commentary that provides relevant background material.
This selection from the many letters written by Martin Heidegger to his wife provides an invaluable insight into their life together, their friendships and relationships, and sheds fresh light on the ideas and beliefs of one of the twentieth century's greatest philosophers.
About the Author
Martin Heidegger
Translated by Rupert Glasgow
Reviews
"The letters reveal Heidegger as a whole in an unprecedented fashion, but also evoke the character and qualities of his wife."
The Scientific and Medical Network
"Heidegger's letters to his wife are a revelation. They offer privileged access to the innermost reaches of Heidegger's thought. Moreover, here, perhaps for the first time, Heidegger the fallible individual is fully on display. These fascinating letters reveal Heidegger's exalted sense of the world-historical mission of philosophy, as well as his own immodest estimation of his standing. This rich correspondence should be required reading for anyone interested in the vital intersection between biography and the history of ideas."
Richard Wolin, City University of New York
"Can a philosopher's life illuminate his thinking? Heidegger is not encouraging, writing of Aristotle: 'He was born, worked, and died.' Yet in these letters to Elfride, his thinking, tribulations and passions bleed together, exploding any such parsimony. They bear intimate witness to everyday life chez Heidegger, and offer a riveting glimpse of an often unequal struggle with his wife over the meaning of marriage, love and truth."
David Wood, Vanderbilt University
Book Information
ISBN 9780745641362
Author Martin Heidegger
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 522g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 150mm * 28mm