Michael Gelven
A Commentary on Heidegger's "Being and Time": A Section-by-Section Interpretation.
Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970. 234 pages.
Softcover volume, measuring approximately 5.5" x 8", shows light shelfwear. Binding is sound. Pages are clean and bright.
"Ever since the appearance of the first English translation of "Being and Time" in 1962, there has been a flood of expositions and criticisms of what Heidegger had written and Macquarrie and Robinson had translated. There were books and pamphlets attacking, supporting, refuting, and deifying. For the careful student, however, who needed explanations of difficult passages and comments as to why Heidegger used certain arguments and avoided others, this plethora of secondary literature was not very helpful. Most of it, in fact, had such terrifying jargon that the honest student was often turned away from reading Heidegger in the original, so offensive and obscure was the language and terminology. This section-by-section commentary, the first of his kind, fulfills a rather serious need. The student or the educated reader may find it a guide and support in reading "Being and Time"; and yet, at the same time, will find it more than a mere reader's guide. I have tried to summarize in direct and nontechnical language the major arguments and analyses, which is what is to be expected of such a commentary. In addition, however, I have sketched out in many cases the historical tradition behind many problems; I have analyzed the program and strategy behind Heidegger's presentations. I have added at the end of the book an essay entitled "Why Existence?" which shows that the recent shift to existential themes by Nietzsche, Heidegger, and others is due to the nature of the philosophical inquiry itself rather than a sudden new concern for different social values".
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$30.00Price
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