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Heidegger Explained: From Phenomenon to Thing (Ideas Explained) by Graham Harman
More and more philosophers now recognize Martin Heidegger as the most important philosopher of the past hundred years. And more than any other recent philosopher, Heidegger has a following outside philosophy, among artists, architects, literary theorists, psychologists, and computer scientists.Heidegger Explained is the clearest exposition of Heidegger yet written. It describes his controversial life and career, his relations with contemporaries, the evolution of his thought, and the pathways of his influence.
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First published April 6, 2007
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About the author
Graham Harman
62 books208 followersGraham Harman (born May 9, 1968) is a professor at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is a contemporary philosopher of metaphysics, who attempts to reverse the linguistic turn of Western philosophy. He terms his ideas object-oriented ontology. A larger grouping of philosophers, Speculative Realism, includes Harman and the philosophers Iain Hamilton Grant, Quentin Meillassoux and Ray Brassier.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 27, 2011
'Cause Lord knows I need this dense and overpowering German juggle-knot explained before Dasein erases that part of my brain that's been gathering dust all of these years.
Graham Harman! Dude, you ficken rock! Making the Heideggerian philosophy less a giant bowl of oversalted and stale pretzels that clog the mouth like a wad of factical sawdust and more a manageable serving of those mysterious-but-tasty Bits & Bites™ which feature a delicious surprise with every handful.
I'm impressed with the clear and succinct explanation of Heidegger's early Freiburg and Marburg days as an instructor - lecturer (that's the current point where I'm at in the book) shedding the Phenomenological robes he received from Husserl and fashioning new and powerful ones of his own to replace them. I could always sense - under the intimidating and impenetrable prose style that Heidegger presents, at least in translation - the attractiveness of his bedrock ideas. In a manner of speaking, his prose style mimics his early philosophy: Dasein (the reader) must rise above the everyday appearance of Things in order to perceive the hidden layers wherein Being consists, with all of its mysterious shadows and hiddenness that elude the casual observer. In the same vein as recent books I've read by Hugh Graham and Roberto Calasso Heidegger appears to firmly eschew the duality so prevalent in the history of philosophy and theology, and which recurs incessantly in heresies that spring from the principal Abrahamic religions. Although I still don't completely understand him - and, in all likelihood, never will - the concept of Being being a totality that cannot be separated from its environment and studied objectively and impartially, cannot ever be known in its entirety, but is, its meaning in the horizon of Kairological Time which is a threefold structure of the interactions of the Past and the Future with the Present, a Being that is Transcendence, rather than residing in a single absolute at a hierarchical level above the rest of the material world; it's all a philosophical foundation that I believe I can get behind.
This book has required a slow and careful reading - even if Harman writes in a much less complex style than his Nibs, the ideas are still deep and powerful and difficult and demand a focus from me that often necessitates two or three passes at the various thematic subchapters - but its rewards are significant, in that I feel reasonably confident that when I return to the actual writings of Heidegger I will no longer feel so utterly and helplessly adrift amidst a formidable thought process that I could not follow in more than the most rudimentary fashion.
Graham Harman! Dude, you ficken rock! Making the Heideggerian philosophy less a giant bowl of oversalted and stale pretzels that clog the mouth like a wad of factical sawdust and more a manageable serving of those mysterious-but-tasty Bits & Bites™ which feature a delicious surprise with every handful.
I'm impressed with the clear and succinct explanation of Heidegger's early Freiburg and Marburg days as an instructor - lecturer (that's the current point where I'm at in the book) shedding the Phenomenological robes he received from Husserl and fashioning new and powerful ones of his own to replace them. I could always sense - under the intimidating and impenetrable prose style that Heidegger presents, at least in translation - the attractiveness of his bedrock ideas. In a manner of speaking, his prose style mimics his early philosophy: Dasein (the reader) must rise above the everyday appearance of Things in order to perceive the hidden layers wherein Being consists, with all of its mysterious shadows and hiddenness that elude the casual observer. In the same vein as recent books I've read by Hugh Graham and Roberto Calasso Heidegger appears to firmly eschew the duality so prevalent in the history of philosophy and theology, and which recurs incessantly in heresies that spring from the principal Abrahamic religions. Although I still don't completely understand him - and, in all likelihood, never will - the concept of Being being a totality that cannot be separated from its environment and studied objectively and impartially, cannot ever be known in its entirety, but is, its meaning in the horizon of Kairological Time which is a threefold structure of the interactions of the Past and the Future with the Present, a Being that is Transcendence, rather than residing in a single absolute at a hierarchical level above the rest of the material world; it's all a philosophical foundation that I believe I can get behind.
This book has required a slow and careful reading - even if Harman writes in a much less complex style than his Nibs, the ideas are still deep and powerful and difficult and demand a focus from me that often necessitates two or three passes at the various thematic subchapters - but its rewards are significant, in that I feel reasonably confident that when I return to the actual writings of Heidegger I will no longer feel so utterly and helplessly adrift amidst a formidable thought process that I could not follow in more than the most rudimentary fashion.
July 12, 2016
Heidegger has been the biggest gap in my reading. He is the one major figure in philosophy that I haven't read -- and hence, everything that flows from him (mainly 2/3rds of modernity) has also been a blank book to me. So for someone looking for a way into this -- this book is just excellent.
On the other hand, Harman tries to cover too much to briefly -- and so I found my eyes glazing at some of the ancillary issues, which were simply not well-enough prepared.
On the other hand -- I'm started to sound like a two-handed economist here -- Heidegger is one of those thinkers (like Plato and Einstein) who thought he had only one idea -- albeit one BIG idea -- and here Harmen does an excellent job.
That one idea, of course, is Dasein -- or more particularly the notion that Dasein is an event.
Good place to start, and my thanks to Chris for calling this to my attention.
On the other hand, Harman tries to cover too much to briefly -- and so I found my eyes glazing at some of the ancillary issues, which were simply not well-enough prepared.
On the other hand -- I'm started to sound like a two-handed economist here -- Heidegger is one of those thinkers (like Plato and Einstein) who thought he had only one idea -- albeit one BIG idea -- and here Harmen does an excellent job.
That one idea, of course, is Dasein -- or more particularly the notion that Dasein is an event.
Good place to start, and my thanks to Chris for calling this to my attention.
January 20, 2022
A great analysis of Heidegger. Though it is always a difficult task to study a genius like Martin Heidegger, in this book the writer brought into light some of the most important ideas of Heidegger and an overall view on his life as well.
After Nietzsche, Heidegger is the only philosopher whose influence is prodigious. Without him there would be no such school of existentialism as such. As i was reading Sartre's Being and nothingness a month ago,i was continuously turned aware by Sartre of Heidegger's thought. But it is just few days ago i have made up my mind to read Heidegger. And this book was a great introduction of the philosopher.
After Nietzsche, Heidegger is the only philosopher whose influence is prodigious. Without him there would be no such school of existentialism as such. As i was reading Sartre's Being and nothingness a month ago,i was continuously turned aware by Sartre of Heidegger's thought. But it is just few days ago i have made up my mind to read Heidegger. And this book was a great introduction of the philosopher.
August 25, 2011
A delightful book. Harman is a lively and clear writer with a deep understanding of Heidegger. He's basically an enthusiastic friend who's walking alongside you, explaining how interesting he finds key elements of Heidegger's thought. As you would expect of a friend, he's upfront about his own perspective on this task, explains where his take is within the mainstream and also where he might be more toward the fringe. Also as you would expect from a friend, he does his best to strip away mystification and needless impenetrability.
Harman does not ignore nor excuse Heidegger's (massive) personal shortcomings, but rather speaks frankly about his faults. This was particularly helpful for me, as I've long resisted spending much time on such a pompous, proud, unapologetic, selfish fascist. (Yes, actual fascist. He was a Nazi, you know.) By showing awareness of this, and making no excuses for it, Harman avoids the sickening hero-worship of some so-called "Heideggerians" who've turned their hero into a sage or prophet, and must thus now try to argue that somehow he didn't really mean it when he talked about the "inner truth and greatness" of National Socialism.
In short, many thanks to Graham Harman for this wonderful introduction. If you're curious about Heidegger at all, this is an excellent place to start. (His "Further Reading" section at the end will point you to excellent places to continue, if you find you are still interested at the end of the book.)
Harman does not ignore nor excuse Heidegger's (massive) personal shortcomings, but rather speaks frankly about his faults. This was particularly helpful for me, as I've long resisted spending much time on such a pompous, proud, unapologetic, selfish fascist. (Yes, actual fascist. He was a Nazi, you know.) By showing awareness of this, and making no excuses for it, Harman avoids the sickening hero-worship of some so-called "Heideggerians" who've turned their hero into a sage or prophet, and must thus now try to argue that somehow he didn't really mean it when he talked about the "inner truth and greatness" of National Socialism.
In short, many thanks to Graham Harman for this wonderful introduction. If you're curious about Heidegger at all, this is an excellent place to start. (His "Further Reading" section at the end will point you to excellent places to continue, if you find you are still interested at the end of the book.)
June 5, 2023
if you like this review i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com
051010: this one makes up for all the difficulty in reading heidegger. this one i think i understand. this focus on heidegger’s original question- on being and beings- shows how phenomenology bequeathed from husserl was just not up to the questions he had in mind. wonderfully extracts the core concerns of existence and things and dasein and reveals why he is considered so significant. I had read various other authors (Sartre, Jean-Paul, and Sartre, Jean-Paul, etc) but only now can I see why they refer back to him and being and time.
as Nathan "N.R." Jan 22, 2015 06:13AM,says:
'Ready-to-hand is the hammer building a house, swinging, nailing, hitting nails and thumbs. The skilled carpenter doesn't think much about the hammer but about this and this going there and here and up top over there. Present-at-hand is the hammer being weighed (23 oz.) measured (long-handled) preened over (plastic handle vs. wooden handle). Ready-to-hand it is part of a larger frame of relations oriented at some that-for-the-sake-of-which (a house for Dasein) while as present-at-hand it's fallen out of any such relation and is only there to be treated as a mere thing for measurement etc.
The two are not different things or concepts, but ways in which a thing (the famous hammer) presences itself or comes forward or appears -- as ready-to-hand the hammer appears as hammering while as present-at-hand it appears merely as a hammer. They are to manners of taking or interpreting a thing. Frequently, when we take a thing as ready-to-hand we don't even notice it or 'see' it, like we typically relate to our eyeglasses, looking through them as we use them rather than looking at them and considering them.
Dasein is neither ready-to-hand nor present-at-hand but has its own way of Being. If you take Dasein as ready-to-hand you are treating Dasein as a tool and not an end in itself ; if you take Dasein as present-at-hand you are treating it as a thing to be studied under a microscope (basically all the human sciences employing quantitative methods) ;; it's not so much that these two mis-takings of Dasein are unethical as that they miss the Being of Dasein.'
this is a great summing-up quote from comments of another reader to another reviewer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
051010: this one makes up for all the difficulty in reading heidegger. this one i think i understand. this focus on heidegger’s original question- on being and beings- shows how phenomenology bequeathed from husserl was just not up to the questions he had in mind. wonderfully extracts the core concerns of existence and things and dasein and reveals why he is considered so significant. I had read various other authors (Sartre, Jean-Paul, and Sartre, Jean-Paul, etc) but only now can I see why they refer back to him and being and time.
as Nathan "N.R." Jan 22, 2015 06:13AM,says:
'Ready-to-hand is the hammer building a house, swinging, nailing, hitting nails and thumbs. The skilled carpenter doesn't think much about the hammer but about this and this going there and here and up top over there. Present-at-hand is the hammer being weighed (23 oz.) measured (long-handled) preened over (plastic handle vs. wooden handle). Ready-to-hand it is part of a larger frame of relations oriented at some that-for-the-sake-of-which (a house for Dasein) while as present-at-hand it's fallen out of any such relation and is only there to be treated as a mere thing for measurement etc.
The two are not different things or concepts, but ways in which a thing (the famous hammer) presences itself or comes forward or appears -- as ready-to-hand the hammer appears as hammering while as present-at-hand it appears merely as a hammer. They are to manners of taking or interpreting a thing. Frequently, when we take a thing as ready-to-hand we don't even notice it or 'see' it, like we typically relate to our eyeglasses, looking through them as we use them rather than looking at them and considering them.
Dasein is neither ready-to-hand nor present-at-hand but has its own way of Being. If you take Dasein as ready-to-hand you are treating Dasein as a tool and not an end in itself ; if you take Dasein as present-at-hand you are treating it as a thing to be studied under a microscope (basically all the human sciences employing quantitative methods) ;; it's not so much that these two mis-takings of Dasein are unethical as that they miss the Being of Dasein.'
this is a great summing-up quote from comments of another reader to another reviewer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
January 5, 2017
Alright, we all know, and I think we all agree, that Heidegger's philosophy is pretty much obscure and incomprehensible. I always have a strange feeling understanding those German compund words used all the time by Heidegger. Well, this guy, Graham Harman knows very well how to explain that obscure incomprehensible indecipherable philosophy into a simple, concise, and jargonless book.
You know, Harman is not the guy who want to look smart by making you confused. He is the kind of guy who make you understand very well and thus make him a smart ass. He can sum up the whole Heidegger philosophy in one sentence: being is not present. That's it. In order to explain being, Heidegger needs threefold structure, basically like tima, which is past, present and future. We all know Heidegger's great work "Being and Time". Harman just went like, "That's whole Heidegger's talkin' bout". In his book, Harman proved that in the whole philosophical career of Heidegger, that's what he's talking about: being and time. But mind you, this time is not chronological time, or time we know, time measured by clock and so on. It is kairological time. Time which is separated by past, present and future. He is talking about event and so on. Actually, I don't really grasp that idea really good. But, you know, the threefold structure (past, present, and future) is in every Heidegger's work.
Harman explained Heidegger not in separate way, like "Heidegger's metaphysics", "Heidegger's Aesthetics" and so on. He divided it in chronological time. He explained from the earliest work to the latest. Thus, making a comprehensive and also contextual. We know what Heidegger thought in particular time and why was he thinking that. And, it is worth noting that although Harman idolize Heidegger, he has some disagreement with him. He showed his criticism in the last part. In the end, this is a great book on introducing Heidegger. It really makes me want to engage with Heidegger directly. A solid piece by Harman.
You know, Harman is not the guy who want to look smart by making you confused. He is the kind of guy who make you understand very well and thus make him a smart ass. He can sum up the whole Heidegger philosophy in one sentence: being is not present. That's it. In order to explain being, Heidegger needs threefold structure, basically like tima, which is past, present and future. We all know Heidegger's great work "Being and Time". Harman just went like, "That's whole Heidegger's talkin' bout". In his book, Harman proved that in the whole philosophical career of Heidegger, that's what he's talking about: being and time. But mind you, this time is not chronological time, or time we know, time measured by clock and so on. It is kairological time. Time which is separated by past, present and future. He is talking about event and so on. Actually, I don't really grasp that idea really good. But, you know, the threefold structure (past, present, and future) is in every Heidegger's work.
Harman explained Heidegger not in separate way, like "Heidegger's metaphysics", "Heidegger's Aesthetics" and so on. He divided it in chronological time. He explained from the earliest work to the latest. Thus, making a comprehensive and also contextual. We know what Heidegger thought in particular time and why was he thinking that. And, it is worth noting that although Harman idolize Heidegger, he has some disagreement with him. He showed his criticism in the last part. In the end, this is a great book on introducing Heidegger. It really makes me want to engage with Heidegger directly. A solid piece by Harman.
January 22, 2011
Well then... This does an excellent job in explaining Heidegger's terminology, which I'm sure will be very useful in reading other works that refer to Heidegger in one way or another. But perhaps some of the ideas are simplified a bit too much (not sure if Heidegger himself would be overjoyed at this).
I can see why Harman has chosen to integrate Heidegger's biography into this book (and has done a good job of it too, I must admit). It makes sense considering that Dasein is a Being thrown into the world, that cannot be perceived outside of its surroundings and its historical context. But it also cannot be perceived in its entirety at all, it always withdraws itself, so it seems a bit too simplistic to make such causal explanations using his autobiography. This also leads Harman to use very exaggerated language in praising Heidegger, and that is really off-putting (I'm referring to phrases like "the greatest thinker of the 20th century," "a genius," which can be found on almost every page of the book).
Aside from all this, there seems to be a very troubling lack of ethical consideration in Heidegger's thought (I'm not only saying this in reference to his involvement with the Nazi regime, I mean in his ontology in general), but I can't be sure whether this is omitted from this book in particular. Would be interesting to look into some writing on this.
I can see why Harman has chosen to integrate Heidegger's biography into this book (and has done a good job of it too, I must admit). It makes sense considering that Dasein is a Being thrown into the world, that cannot be perceived outside of its surroundings and its historical context. But it also cannot be perceived in its entirety at all, it always withdraws itself, so it seems a bit too simplistic to make such causal explanations using his autobiography. This also leads Harman to use very exaggerated language in praising Heidegger, and that is really off-putting (I'm referring to phrases like "the greatest thinker of the 20th century," "a genius," which can be found on almost every page of the book).
Aside from all this, there seems to be a very troubling lack of ethical consideration in Heidegger's thought (I'm not only saying this in reference to his involvement with the Nazi regime, I mean in his ontology in general), but I can't be sure whether this is omitted from this book in particular. Would be interesting to look into some writing on this.
February 20, 2020
Overwhelmingly clarity with extremely coherentstructure.It’s Geniune Idea to relate time with Heidegger’s numerology which can interpret all his philosophy to single unity: being is notpresence.
Especially the turn Husserl to Heidegger(by Kantian transcendental category)impressed me so much.
Especially the turn Husserl to Heidegger(by Kantian transcendental category)impressed me so much.
August 11, 2013
I've been fascinated by the ideas of Heidegger since reading Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Inwood years ago.
I initially struggled with it, but reading a copy of Heidegger: Basic Writings was also rewarding. Although it was made up of direct translations of some of his major essays and lectures, that book didn't lay out the evolution of Heidegger's various ideas, couldn't situate them in their historical context, and couldn't highlight those that have subsequently been given attention.
Harman's book does that, and it's a great read. At only around 200pp, it can be consumed in just a few sittings despite the density of the conceptual matter. It also sidesteps Heidegger's German terminology (Zuhandenheit, etc) by neither including it, nor too much hand-wringing discussion of why it has not been included.
I'm reading Tool-Being (Harman's own monograph on his philosophy of "object-oriented ontology" stepping off from Heidegger's tool-analysis) at the moment, and realising at the same time that Harman's interpretation of Heidegger is evidently skewed in various ways. But the skewing seems geared towards universal applicability, clarity, and the dissolution of a range of apparently synonymous concepts Heidegger deployed, so it's probably a good thing.
After reading this book, you will understand Heidegger's main ideas. That has got to be high praise in anyone's language …
I initially struggled with it, but reading a copy of Heidegger: Basic Writings was also rewarding. Although it was made up of direct translations of some of his major essays and lectures, that book didn't lay out the evolution of Heidegger's various ideas, couldn't situate them in their historical context, and couldn't highlight those that have subsequently been given attention.
Harman's book does that, and it's a great read. At only around 200pp, it can be consumed in just a few sittings despite the density of the conceptual matter. It also sidesteps Heidegger's German terminology (Zuhandenheit, etc) by neither including it, nor too much hand-wringing discussion of why it has not been included.
I'm reading Tool-Being (Harman's own monograph on his philosophy of "object-oriented ontology" stepping off from Heidegger's tool-analysis) at the moment, and realising at the same time that Harman's interpretation of Heidegger is evidently skewed in various ways. But the skewing seems geared towards universal applicability, clarity, and the dissolution of a range of apparently synonymous concepts Heidegger deployed, so it's probably a good thing.
After reading this book, you will understand Heidegger's main ideas. That has got to be high praise in anyone's language …
June 15, 2017
I've read quite a few "introductory" books on Heidegger's philosophy, including George Steiner's, Gianni Vattimo's, and Safranski's, inter alia. I've also read quite a few of Heidegger's works. I think Harman's is superior to them in conveying a concise yet comprehensive picture of the philosophical context in which Heidegger's philosophy emerged, but also in laying out in very clear terms the fundamental concepts on which his philosophy is grounded.
I had a pretty good idea about most of the basic concepts and "issues" (e.g., the ontological difference, Angst, Gestell and Gelassenheit) but never quite understood, until now, how his early philosophy was related to Brentano, Husserl, and Phenomenology. I had an idea but never fully understood how it was related. In my opinion, this is one of the best introductions to Heidegger's philosophy out there. To anyone interested or maybe just curious about his philosophy, you should start with this one. If you are more interested in Heidegger's political context and personal life, go with Safranki's.
I had a pretty good idea about most of the basic concepts and "issues" (e.g., the ontological difference, Angst, Gestell and Gelassenheit) but never quite understood, until now, how his early philosophy was related to Brentano, Husserl, and Phenomenology. I had an idea but never fully understood how it was related. In my opinion, this is one of the best introductions to Heidegger's philosophy out there. To anyone interested or maybe just curious about his philosophy, you should start with this one. If you are more interested in Heidegger's political context and personal life, go with Safranki's.
January 26, 2019
A clear short and brief introduction to Heidegger's philosophy through his biographical lecture stories. Easy to understand with a lot of relevant examples for each cases. Highly recommended for anyone who want to dive into Heidegger's "Being and Time".
October 16, 2025
Reading Heidegger is difficult, which is why secondary literature is often necessary. Graham Harman is widely regarded as an authority in this field. His great achievement in Heidegger Explained is that he clearly explains the different phases of Heidegger’s thought while consistently holding on to Heideggers “single great thought” = "Being is not presence."
Being is not Presence
==> Harman clarifies this through Heidegger’s distinction from his teacher Husserl. Whereas Husserl in phenomenology seeks Essence and A Priori structures – "das Seiende als Seiendes", i.e. through appearances to consciousness
==> Heidegger shifts the focus to existence: Dasein.
Dasein, the being that is “thrown” into the world, inseparable from its environment, and for whom truth emerges in this very situation. In this way we can link Dasein as an Event able to experience Truth.
The classical science/ concept of Truth (the search for essences and a priori structures) has, for Heidegger, no validity, since there is always something unknown, a dimension of concealment. This difference with Husserl, and the way it is explained, is one of the book’s strengths. To truly grasp this, understanding of 'Dasein' as Heidegger conceives it is essential, yet this is usually not well explained in secondary literature. Can it even be explained at all?
---
Truth as an Event
For Heidegger, truth is not a fixed property but an event (different from 'Essence' or 'What is'): Sein/Being shows itself and withdraws, in a play of presence and absence. “Truth arises only from Dasein being in the world.”
Truth is an event, an act, a performance, and not a mere mirroring from the outside (p. 33). Since there is always also fallenness (ruinance linked to well explained concepts as The They, Fear/Angst, Curiosity ... ), philosophy must form a counter-movement (p. 30–31).
Ontological Difference and Freedom
This ultimately leads to Heidegger’s core concepts: the ontological difference and transcendence. As he writes: “Dasein transcends itself.” (p. 51).
Transcendence means freedom:
“Another name for transcendence is freedom … Dasein is a creature of Distance. Only through distance do we gain a true nearness to things … Only because Dasein transcends and nihilates can Dasein ever ask ‘Why?’ about anything.” (p. 53).
From this it follows that truth and knowledge are always dependent on Dasein’s capacity to relate to what reveals and conceals itself. “All objectifying presupposes transcendence … there would be no truth without Dasein.” (p. 75).
For me, this is the essence of Heidegger. For even greater depth one is better off reading Heidegger’s shorter works such as What is Metaphysics? or Gelassenheit (Gelatenheid in the Dutch version).That is my personal opinion, since Being and Time is virtually unreadable on a first reading unless one is already familiar with Dasein – a concept not even mentioned in What is Metaphysics? The rest of Harman’s book delves into the various concepts across Heidegger’s oeuvre.
What I especially appreciate is Harman’s clear explanation of the difficult concept of being-towards-death in just one page (p. 71).
==> As Dasein is constantly tranquilized by “the They” through absorption, fallenness, and endless distractions, always saying “not yet”), it cuts itself off from genuine Angst which leads to Alienation.
==> In accepting this Angst, however, we become free to exist authentically, taking full responsibility for our own choices.
Same link with Guilt/Conscience which can never belong to 'The They' ... "The call of conscience gives no specific information but simply calls Dasein into its own possibilities, whatever they may be." ..." ... the call of conscience strike us uncanny" (p. 72)
conclusion
Harman offers one of the most accessible and clear introductions to Heidegger available. His strength lies in maintaining focus on Heideggers's core idea (being is not presence) throughout all phases of Heidegger’s thought. So you are able to grasp it. It is unconcealed!
In the rest of the book Harman’s focus is tool-being themes, which is understandable given his own OOO project. For me personally, the existential-humanist aspect of Heidegger remains the most compelling, but I certainly regard Harman’s work as a valuable guide for gaining a better understanding of Heidegger.
Being is not Presence
==> Harman clarifies this through Heidegger’s distinction from his teacher Husserl. Whereas Husserl in phenomenology seeks Essence and A Priori structures – "das Seiende als Seiendes", i.e. through appearances to consciousness
==> Heidegger shifts the focus to existence: Dasein.
Dasein, the being that is “thrown” into the world, inseparable from its environment, and for whom truth emerges in this very situation. In this way we can link Dasein as an Event able to experience Truth.
The classical science/ concept of Truth (the search for essences and a priori structures) has, for Heidegger, no validity, since there is always something unknown, a dimension of concealment. This difference with Husserl, and the way it is explained, is one of the book’s strengths. To truly grasp this, understanding of 'Dasein' as Heidegger conceives it is essential, yet this is usually not well explained in secondary literature. Can it even be explained at all?
---
Truth as an Event
For Heidegger, truth is not a fixed property but an event (different from 'Essence' or 'What is'): Sein/Being shows itself and withdraws, in a play of presence and absence. “Truth arises only from Dasein being in the world.”
Truth is an event, an act, a performance, and not a mere mirroring from the outside (p. 33). Since there is always also fallenness (ruinance linked to well explained concepts as The They, Fear/Angst, Curiosity ... ), philosophy must form a counter-movement (p. 30–31).
Ontological Difference and Freedom
This ultimately leads to Heidegger’s core concepts: the ontological difference and transcendence. As he writes: “Dasein transcends itself.” (p. 51).
Transcendence means freedom:
“Another name for transcendence is freedom … Dasein is a creature of Distance. Only through distance do we gain a true nearness to things … Only because Dasein transcends and nihilates can Dasein ever ask ‘Why?’ about anything.” (p. 53).
From this it follows that truth and knowledge are always dependent on Dasein’s capacity to relate to what reveals and conceals itself. “All objectifying presupposes transcendence … there would be no truth without Dasein.” (p. 75).
For me, this is the essence of Heidegger. For even greater depth one is better off reading Heidegger’s shorter works such as What is Metaphysics? or Gelassenheit (Gelatenheid in the Dutch version).That is my personal opinion, since Being and Time is virtually unreadable on a first reading unless one is already familiar with Dasein – a concept not even mentioned in What is Metaphysics? The rest of Harman’s book delves into the various concepts across Heidegger’s oeuvre.
What I especially appreciate is Harman’s clear explanation of the difficult concept of being-towards-death in just one page (p. 71).
==> As Dasein is constantly tranquilized by “the They” through absorption, fallenness, and endless distractions, always saying “not yet”), it cuts itself off from genuine Angst which leads to Alienation.
==> In accepting this Angst, however, we become free to exist authentically, taking full responsibility for our own choices.
Same link with Guilt/Conscience which can never belong to 'The They' ... "The call of conscience gives no specific information but simply calls Dasein into its own possibilities, whatever they may be." ..." ... the call of conscience strike us uncanny" (p. 72)
conclusion
Harman offers one of the most accessible and clear introductions to Heidegger available. His strength lies in maintaining focus on Heideggers's core idea (being is not presence) throughout all phases of Heidegger’s thought. So you are able to grasp it. It is unconcealed!
In the rest of the book Harman’s focus is tool-being themes, which is understandable given his own OOO project. For me personally, the existential-humanist aspect of Heidegger remains the most compelling, but I certainly regard Harman’s work as a valuable guide for gaining a better understanding of Heidegger.
June 21, 2017
The clearest and the most concise introduction to Heidegger. Unlike other similair works, Harman here shows what is hiding behind banalities, were all those strange heideggerian concepts lead to and how everything corelate with each other. ...The main novelty in Heidegger's tought is that he emphasize how everything is in some context.
September 15, 2025
Excellent little book. Highly recommended reading it before attempting to read ‘Being and Time’ or any other of Heidegger’s texts.
Graham has a clear and thought style, and does his best to not lose any of the depth or detail that could come with articulating philosophical ideas in a book as short as this.
Graham has a clear and thought style, and does his best to not lose any of the depth or detail that could come with articulating philosophical ideas in a book as short as this.
January 8, 2022
Harman is a great communicator, brilliantly lucid. Would have been 5*s with some more clear diagrams and visual aides for my dumb ass.
April 23, 2025
Apesar de não ser o maior fã de Heidegger, o trabalho do Harman foi impecável nesse livro. Que sirva de modelo para todos os comentários de introdução que se seguirem.
July 1, 2025
This was extraordinary and extraordinarily helpful. I felt that it gave me a real opportunity to try and think through what Heidegger is all about, even as I need to read a lot more.
February 17, 2008
This was a very important book for me. Graham Harman shows Heidegger for the true genius that he was. Heidegger killed metaphysics - because he has the last word on the issue. There is nothing that needs to be said after Heidegger.
Why do I love Heidegger? His theory of truth blends the actual with the possible. He compares truth to a forest clearing, as in interplay between light and shadow. We are only dasein, small little searchers-in-the-world, casting light onto the mystery and unlocking its secrets.
Heidegger's definition of essence - not a thing's properties, or a thing's function, but all its possible functions. When begin defining everything by its function, we enter into what Heidegger calls "the enframing", an inauthentic existence. With technology comes the danger, but also the saving power. Yet for Heidegger, this is inevitable, as it not the human beings that are at fault, but Being itself that is at fault, in its deceptiveness.
I love this shit!!!
Why do I love Heidegger? His theory of truth blends the actual with the possible. He compares truth to a forest clearing, as in interplay between light and shadow. We are only dasein, small little searchers-in-the-world, casting light onto the mystery and unlocking its secrets.
Heidegger's definition of essence - not a thing's properties, or a thing's function, but all its possible functions. When begin defining everything by its function, we enter into what Heidegger calls "the enframing", an inauthentic existence. With technology comes the danger, but also the saving power. Yet for Heidegger, this is inevitable, as it not the human beings that are at fault, but Being itself that is at fault, in its deceptiveness.
I love this shit!!!
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October 12, 2014Being is not Presence
Heidegger wants to remind us that while we love talking about phenomenology and how things appear to us in the mind, it is also very important to remember that things have a side that is inaccessible that we should at least be aware of the existence of. The way we interact with objects generally is to use them as tools rather than to just appreciate them as objects, and technology makes this worse. Also, the world worlds.
How important is this? And how true is it that objects are things in themselves, rather than the recurring patterns of combinations of elementary matter that we tend to shape things into? Isn't the 'object' a thing in our conceptual space that we use to shape and identify these repeating themes that matter takes? What will appreciating the objects' ineffable essence actually do (not just 'for' us per-se, obviously we're trying to appreciate them not just as things for us to use here).
Heidegger wants to remind us that while we love talking about phenomenology and how things appear to us in the mind, it is also very important to remember that things have a side that is inaccessible that we should at least be aware of the existence of. The way we interact with objects generally is to use them as tools rather than to just appreciate them as objects, and technology makes this worse. Also, the world worlds.
How important is this? And how true is it that objects are things in themselves, rather than the recurring patterns of combinations of elementary matter that we tend to shape things into? Isn't the 'object' a thing in our conceptual space that we use to shape and identify these repeating themes that matter takes? What will appreciating the objects' ineffable essence actually do (not just 'for' us per-se, obviously we're trying to appreciate them not just as things for us to use here).
January 5, 2015
I thought that Harmon did fine work in making the (sometimes mysterious) ideas of Heidegger approachable. I also liked that he worked to create a trajectory for Heidegger's ideas as this created a continuity that permitted the reader to look at the man's work as an ongoing process rather than seeing an "later" Heidegger standing against an "earlier" Heidegger as is often done with the writings of Nietzsche. Speaking of Nietzsche, Harmon also devotes some space to Heidegger's influences and provides the reader with a nice biographical sketch of Heidegger as well. The reader will also be happy to find that Harmnon also provides a list of other more approachable books that engage with specific ideas broached and arguments raised by Heidegger.
July 22, 2009
Heidegger, of course, has more often than not been described as being notorious for having somewhat of an incomprehensible style of composition, even leading to reactionary accusations of sophistry (especially for, but not limited to, Carnap and his followers). Even well-known Heideggerians like to point this out in their introductory commentaries to Heidegger's work. This book, however, diverges from those commentaries in presenting Heidegger's key concepts in a clarity and comprehensibility void of any convolution and academic dreck.
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