Heidegger: A Guide for the Perplexed

Guides for the Perplexed

by David R. Cerbone

Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to fathom, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material. Martin Heidegger is one of the twentieth century's most influential, controversial and challenging philosophers. His Being and Time is a landmark text in modern philosophy, required reading for anyone studying Continental thought. However, the concepts encountered in Heidegger are intricate and frequently confusing, while the language through which they are articulated is deliberately dense and obscure. A Guide for the Perplexed is a thorough, cogent and reliable account of Heidegger's philosophy, ideal for the student who needs to reach a sound understanding of this complex and important thinker. The book covers Heidegger's oeuvre in its entirety, offering not only exposition of Being and Time , but also his later work. His perspectives on, and contributions to, both ontology and phenomenology are explored in full, as is the concept of Dasein, Heidegger's term for the human way of existence. Geared toward the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of Heidegger's philosophy, this is the ideal companion to the study of this most influential and challenging of twentieth century philosophers.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2008

Reviews

[Tùng Đỗ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Heidegger's original writing was obscure for me at first, so I resorted to this book for a deeper comprehension of Heidegger's ideas. It did not disappoint me as David R. Cerbone had expressed Heidegger's terms in a more simple and straightforward manner with lots of vivid examples to illustrate them. Given how much difficulty I encountered while reading the original work of Heidegger and the considerably more ease with which I read this book, I think it fairly deserves 4 stars.