The two treatises The Overcoming of Metaphysics (1938/39) and The Essence of Nihilism (1946-1948) do not belong together temporally or formally, but they are brought together in this volume because they both treat a common thesis from the standpoint of different questions - namely, that nihilism is the essence of metaphysics in relation to the history of being.

The overcoming of metaphysics is, for Heidegger, the decisive historical moment in which metaphysics is experienced as the history of the abandonment by being and overcome at the same time. The abandonment of beings by being reveals itself in the final and most extreme intensification of metaphysics as the "unconditioned predominance of manipulation." Manipulation means here the all-dominating producibility of beings.

The Essence of Nihilism is linked to the idea of overcoming. This text deals with the attempt to elucidate the essence of nihilism through Nietzsche's words "God is dead." The killing of God springs from the will to power as the most extreme form of manipulation. The being of beings is grasped here as the positing of values emanating from the will to power. In this positing of being as value, it becomes clear that being itself remained unthought in metaphysics. Therefore, metaphysics as such is nihilism proper.

These key works by Heidegger, now available in English for the first time, will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy and to anyone interested in Heidegger's thought.

About the Author
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century and the author of numerous works including Being and Time.

Reviews

"This translation makes available for the first time in English a series of Heidegger's pivotal reflections on the overcoming of metaphysics, grounded in the thesis that the essence of metaphysics is nihilism. Containing important remarks on Being and Time and other early texts, this volume will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the inner development of Heidegger's thought in the decade from 1938 to 1948."
William McNeill, Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University, Chicago

"This volume is a welcome addition to the translation of Heidegger's 'private monographs' from the late 1930s and 1940s. Elegantly translated, it is essential reading for anyone interested in Heidegger's views on the consummation of metaphysics in techno-scientific nihilism, the role of Being and Time in the overcoming of metaphysics, and the task of thinking in the age of the 'abandonment of being.'"
Miguel de Beistegui, ICREA Research Professor of Philosophy, University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

Book Information
ISBN 9781509540044
Author Martin Heidegger
Format Hardback
Page Count 250
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 499g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 160mm * 25mm