Heidegger in 90 Minutes

Philosophers in 90 Minutes #9

by Paul Strathern

“Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character....I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization.”―Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe . “Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them....I find them hard to stop reading.”―Richard Bernstein, New York Times . “Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise.”―Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal . These brief and enlightening explorations of our greatest thinkers bring their ideas to life in entertaining and accessible fashion. Philosophical thought is deciphered and made comprehensive and interesting to almost everyone. Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the philosopher and his work, authoritative and clearly presented.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Audiobook, German Literature, British Literature

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Paul Strathern (born 1940) is a English writer and academic. He was born in London, and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966 he travelled overland to India and the Himalayas. His novel A Season in Abyssinia won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1972.

Besides five novels, he has also written numerous books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics.

Reviews

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can't be changed but, it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one.”― Martin Heidegger



I'm considering sticking my head in the black hole that is Being and Time, the most famous work of philosopher, Martin Heidegger. Paul Strathern's Heidegger in 90 Minutes offers biographical information and some context for Martin Heidegger's life and work. Strathern does not offer much explanation of Heidegger's concepts, besides showing how the philosopher's work fits into phenomenology and existentialism. I would definitely have liked to have seen more. Still, he argues that Heidegger's enormous influence on philosophy is unmatched in the 20th century.

Of course, the biographical information details how Heidegger rejected his mentor, Edmund Husserl, and, in 1933, became a Nazi. While Heidegger was not active in the party after 1934, he remained in the party until the end of WWII. This flaw is undoubtedly something that has to be squared with his philosophical legacy. Either way, Strathern's account of Heidegger wasn't inspired, but it wasn't a bad introduction either. I wouldn't hesitate to read his other short introductions to philosophers.

“Everyone is the other and no one is himself.”
― Martin Heidegger, Being and Time

[Mahdiye Fateh · Rating 3 out of 5]

مدتها، از سالهای دبیرستان، از نزدیک شدن به فلسفه واهمه داشتم. از ترس وا ماندن و بی دستاویز ماندن در میانه‌ی راهش، موضعم با آن شده بود تعقیب و گریز. پراکنده خواندن و رها کردن.
اخیراً اما به ترسم و دلایلش خیلی فکر کردم. اگر از دو سال پیش محکمترین ریسمان وارد زندگی‌ام شده باشد، حالا واهمه‌ای نمیماند برای پیش رفتن در در سختی راهها و جستن روشنیها.

[Justinian the Great · Rating 1 out of 5]

Focused too much on his biography.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can you imagine falling in love with Hannah Arendt and then joining the Nazi party anyway? Wild.

A great overview of Heidegger. I know reading Being and Time before Being and Nothingness is the way to go but I'm not sure I'll be able to make sense of it regardless. I certainly won't be able to read it in German any time soon.

[Jesse Bray · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only Heidegger had read a bit more eastern mysticism he would of realized how partial his understanding was about the mystery of being. This philosopher lived a life of expedient and self centered decisions. Sexist and a passive antisemitic theres arguably certain morsel amidst his appalling behavior. However his work really only proves that just because you know where the lights are doesn't mean you're enlightened.

[Henry Manampiring · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still don't understand Heidegger after reading this.

[Bram · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was interesting yes, however it should been called the history of Heidegger in an hour. Of course you cannot expect such a short book to be complete, however this book spends more time discussing Heidegger his sexual relationship with Arendt than on discussing his philosophy!

Somewere in the book it is mentioned that Heidegger, the German snob he is, would have been outraged by this short essay, well I think he would have been right.

[J.D. Steens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the 90 minutes, I’d say 60 were biographical, including Heidegger’s love affair with Ms. Arendt (the author can’t resist) and of course Heidegger’s involvement with Nazi Germany.

“Being” is obscure for the author; time is discussed not at all. Perhaps its understandable that Strathern dos not get much into Heidegger’s philosophy. Being is best understood by what it is not for Heidegger. Distinctly, it is not the philosophy of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle that took integrated being and either denied it (Socrates claimed he knew nothing), or split it up into “separate entities” (Plato’s ideas; Aristotle’s classifications of nature). From there, Western philosophy moved away from Being to become, progressively, detached from the self via an all-pervasive other-directedness and inauthenticity. (1) The concept of Being itself, what existence is, then became merely a grammar word: “What had once been the basis that underlay all philosophy had been reduced to a minor function of grammar. Being, in all its subtlety and depth, had been degraded to a mere copula – ‘is.’ A profound mystery had become little more than a verbal glue which held together words in a sentence.” As to what this essence is Heidegger, according to the author, is not clear, other than that it is not, as it was for Husserl, “in some metaphysical beyond.”

As to how one comes to understand Being, we know this by a sort of internal meditation: “How are we to arrive at this ‘essence of man,’ or at least progress toward it? According to Heidegger, this could be done only “by eliminating the accidental and the trivial as we concentrate on the core of human being.” Strathern characterizes this quest for Being as “undeniably religious” and quotes a critic who said of Heidegger that ‘“The search for Being is merely a disguised quest for a kind of belief in God.’” Isn’t this taking liberties with Heidegger? Could it be that he was referencing, however obtusely, our biological being, i.e. something inner, not outer (like God). Each of us, consistent with the variation seen in biological evolution, has our own character and it is this that constitutes Being, authenticity and happiness (2), and that it is society, much as Heidegger suggests, that turns us into inauthentic beings.

(1) “Humanity’s very knowledge of ‘beingness’ had evaporated amidst a welter of scientific and technological knowledge. Indeed, this was not knowledge at all – just mere ‘knowhow.’ In this way man’s beingness itself had become lost to him. Over the centuries, Western philosophy had caused humanity to lose its primeval experience of itself. This ‘forgetfulness of being’ had finally resulted in nihilism and a world dominated by technology. Instead of thinking about being thinking had been reduced to mere logic, science, technology and the bloodless, beingless metaphysics of post-Socratic philosophy. This had culminated in the age of science – but ‘science does not think.’”

(2) This bumps into a host of issues such as the Buddhist non-self, or the mantra to be “true to oneself” that begs the question as to what the true self is, or Sartre’s claim that there is no Essence other than what we create, or whether "is" is generic and universal as human nature, or does it reflect more of an inherent individual nature? And then, if there is something along the line of a biological true self, this does not mean that such a self is a good self vis-à-vis others, which is a troubling but real issue.

[hossein Babadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

شرح زندگی و نظریات فلسفی مارتین هایدگر فیلسوف مشهور آلمانی
مشهورترین اثر او هستی و زمان طولانی با نثری تقریبا غیر قابل فهم که پل استراترن معتقده خوانندگانی که کتاب را از ابتدا شروع به خواندن کنند و با ذهنی صحیح و سالم به پایان برند می توانند خود را فیلسوفی تمام عیار و تراز اول به حساب آورند

[Ville Verkkapuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice and quick run-through and introduction to Heidegger. A horrible human being with some interesting ideas.

[meggmayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

awesome. can now recite everything about heidegger’s affair with an 18 year old……still don’t know what being means !

[Mehmed Gokcel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to place Heidegger in context. It’s not that great for deciphering his thought and impact.

[Robert Terrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the 90 minutes series as a quick refresher. Often they remind me that just because you are an amazing thinker doesn't mean that you are a decent human. This was the case in Heidegger.

[Cid Medeiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short but yet effective introduction on the life and philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Strathern manages to introduce Heidegger's main philosophical problem, including some interesting hints about its possible origins.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cuts to the heart of why Wittgenstein is the end of philosophy for me; ontology seems to be the pursuit of an answer to a vaguely formed question, or a dog chasing its tail, dissatisfied that when it grasps the tail, it hasn't grasped tail-ness.

[Paige]

:/ I just can't forgive his fatheadness

[Guadalupe Ramirez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was hoping for better explanation of phenomenology...

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heidegger in 90 minutes by Paul Strathern

In the worlds of Donald Rumsfeld, we have here plenty of “KNOWN UNKNOWNS”



After Aristotle and Confucius in 90 minutes, this is my third episode of the Strathern series and I have no plan to stop here, for I find this author to be excellent.

He goes as far as to admit that Heidegger would think that the book Heidegger in 90 minutes is a waste of time (and probably of space, in the words of Basil Fawlty, when addressing Manuel: “you’re a waste of space”).

Heidegger was an outlandish character, giving lectures in something like a folk costume, having an affair with the eighteen year old Hannah Arendt- who was Jewish- and yet adhere to the Nazi party.

He wrote letters to Arendt in which he denied being anti-Semite and at the same time seeming to justify it. Heidegger had been an admirer, assistant and heir to Husserl before disavowing him – betraying his mentor… he still sent Husserl flowers.

One should insist on the aspects of his philosophy, instead of his Crimes and Misdemeanors. Sometimes though it is hard to learn about the political, social positions of a writer or thinker and not care about his public stands. I for one would never read Sartre, about whom I know that he not only sympathized with the communists, but once he had learned the truth about mass murders and widespread famine, insisted with stupid and false statements like:

- The Russians choose not to travel abroad, it is not true that they are forbidden

What is the worth of the work of a thinker who says and does things like that? I am not the one to pronounce universal judgments, but Sartre is excluded from my reading list.

Heidegger was perhaps the most controversial of all philosophers in the 20th century, though one could add: with the exception of Sartre- but for me the latter is not controversial; he is a Clear and Present Danger (this was the name of a forgettable movie)

- Martin Heidegger has been an assistant to Husserl, whose book he took from the library and kept for two years in his room, only to renege on his mentor years later.

Nobody has asked for the book all that time.

Sein Und Zeit is the masterpiece, chef d’oeuvre of Martin Heidegger.

The importance of Being…

It has something extraordinary in its significance

– BEING – has been replaced with is, just a word between others…

The ancient philosophers thought about and placed an emphasis on BEING, but that was lost in the past millenniums.

“The meaning of existence?

If we pay attention to the significance of words, we would not ask such a question.”

In Heidegger in 90 minutes I stumbled upon a fascinating idea:

psychology is at the root of logic

An idea expressed by John Stuart Mill and others

On one hand, I wish I could have the mind capacity of Heidegger, but on the other, looking at the choices he made in public life, one is puzzled- if having a great also means being plain stupid, what is the point?

Again, a leitmotif comes to my mind, when reading about these Beautiful Minds and their often failed careers, or public choices…

- If Marxie Heller's so fucking smart, how come he's so fucking dead- which is a line from Prizzi’s Honour, with Jack Nicholson

In other words, it is astonishing to see how the brightest minds make the most outrageous mistakes. If they’re so damned smart, how come they make the craziest mistakes?

- How could Heidegger side with the Nazis?

He gave them up at one point, but still, it is mind boggling.

- Human, All Too Human…

The fact that Heidegger insists and places emphasis on Sein und Zeit is thought provoking, worth pursuing and evidently reading. If you have the gumption, the original is the one to read, however difficult it is reputed to be. I know my limitations and I need someone to explain, Dasein – being there, and I know I will not be able to read more than a chapter-if that much- of Sein und Zeit.

That being said, I am fascinated by “Sein” and it makes you stop and realize that we do use the word “IS”, way too easily, without thinking of its importance.

Once in a while, a politician brings the issue to the fore: I think of Bill Clinton- when asked about his relations with Monica Lewinsky- was dodging questions with words like:

- It depends on what “is” is…what the meaning of meaning is...or words to that effect

- And another famous example is Donald Rumsfeld with his infamous:

- “known unknowns”

And to end with that accurate expression, there are many ‘known unknowns „about Heidegger, Sein und Zeit, his philosophy- but Paul Strathern’s book does a wonderful job of explaining you as much as possible in as little time as is reasonable, albeit Heidegger would not advise you to read this book:

- Go to the original and read it in German, would be the advice of Martin Heidegger

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav · Rating 5 out of 5]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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[Erick Aparicio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heidegger is a notoriously difficult philosopher to read and this book demonstrates why. Jung described his ideas as quote " . . . is neurotic through and through and is ultimately rooted in his psychic crankiness. His kindred spirits, close or distant, are sitting in lunatic asylums, some as patients, some as psychiatrists on a philosophical rampage . . . For all its critical analysis, philosophy has not yet managed to root out its psychopaths. What do we have psychiatric diagnosis for?"

When I studied philosophy in college, Heidegger's Being and Time was treated as a meme that always made fun of its immense difficulty—how one studies humanness so deeply that they stop becoming it after 200 pages, and the like.

The last few pages were frustrating to read (not from a writing perspective, the author did a great job presenting the history) when coming to learn about Heidegger's awe-inspiring hypocrisy. His joining of and allegiance to the Nazi party, and his admiration of the führer, all while knowing that his biggest mentor and arguably he who made him famous, was Jewish, and his love of now famed political philosopher Hannah Arendt was a love of a Jewish woman, is a revolting level of hypocrisy and world-class stubbornness. Philosophy means the love of wisdom in Greek, and Heidegger, in all irony, and entirely in my opinion, must've been tremendously intelligent beyond the capacity of most, but simultaneously astonishingly unwise.

[Hsandlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just discovered this series but I’m really enjoying it. This book is a wonderful overview of Heidegger and can serve as a great introduction to him. It give a brief history of his life, career, and major writings as well as some (arguably essential) historical context. Heidegger’s work can feel impenetrable so having a easy to read book like this to easy you into some of his ideas could be quite useful. How To Read Heidegger is another book that serves a similar purpose that might pair nicely with this one.

Beyond this books utility, it’s quite enjoyable. It is well written, easy to understand, and has a great sense of humor. I imagine I will be going through this series in the near future, learning about philosophers I’m less familiar with. I would also like to recommend the audiobook. It is short enough to get through in a day and if you listen while you get ready and travel you might not even have to set aside time for it. I’ve seen negative reviews of the narrator, Robert Whitfield, but I actually really enjoy his work. It can be a bit slow paced at time but nothing a quick playback speed adjustment can’t fixed.

[Kaiju Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being and Time is the only book I can think of that I outright conceded to in failure. I read and reread and reread the first hundred or so pages and just the second I felt I was making progress, I'd read a few paragraphs that seemed to undo what I'd read. Because of that, I KNEW that this book wouldn't cover much of Heidegger's philosophy.

His biography is an unsettling one. How can someone be so intelligent and such a dolt at the same time? A stupid question with countless answers in human form, I know, but still. Without knowing more about his reasons for sticking with the party line, I'd have to speculate that at some level he felt he had to for his career/safety/etc. but that's no excuse - though hindsight makes its inexcusability more obvious than perhaps it was even to a genius at that time. Nevertheless, with a meaty topic like Heidegger, ninety minutes just didn't do it justice. Even worse, it makes me want to try Being and Time again... and I just don't have the being or time for that! If anyone reading this review sees Being and Time on my 'currently reading' shelf, please just tell me to stop. Seriously.

[Theo Milos · Rating 2 out of 5]

"We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can't be changed but, it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one.”― Martin Heidegger

- The journey was that was important, not the arrival.

Heidegger discussed the matter of being (existentialism). Dasein was an expression that he founded, which means that some aspects are too close to everyday-life to see. He was against the view on metaphysics which the modern philosphy propagated for. Later on he proceeded to "invent" a new langauge using old latin words in german, because the language was not sufficient to explain certain things. This was inspired by Wittgenstein.

It was too focused on his life and too little on his philosophy. He became a professour at 39 and then advanced to rector. However, to take that job he needed to join the Nazi party, so he did that. Afterward he recived great amount of crititc because of that.

[Nelson Moussalle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A contribuição de Martin Heidegger para a Filosofia é ao mesmo tempo valiosa e de difícil compreensão.
Os conceitos e jargões criados pelo filósofo alemão para readequar o debate acerca do Ser, relegado desde os filósofos pré-socráticos, exigem tempo e reflexão para que se entenda sua aplicação e extensão.
O livro do Prof. Paul Strathern é um ótimo auxiliar nesses estudos. Diferentemente de Zeljko Loparic, Rüdiger Safranski e Ernildo Stein, que aprofundam a implicação técnica, a vida e a análise teórica da obra, no livro encontramos uma visão geral do ser Heidegger colocado em um mundo agitado politicamente, destroçado economicamente e produtor de uma sociedade composta por pessoas perdidas ou desalentadas, situando a problemática da inautenticidade.
Uma obra curta, leitura rápida e direta, com bons conceitos para entender um pouco mais do Universo do Ser de Heidegger.

[Kimberly Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

His particular thoughts on what existing looks like for a being is interesting to me. I don’t like that he joined the Nazi party and believed that only Germans could hold the answers to philosophy. I’m also not so keen on the fact when he was a professor, and was 36 years old, he had an affair with an 18-year-old student. I do agree with the fact that “Science does not think” in a way because it just does. He says the geometry would still be geometry whether or not we knew of it and I view science the same way.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my least favorite in this series, mostly because it is an example of another hypocritical 20th century life//philosopher. For all of Heidigger's seemingly obvious desire at being unique or in knowing something unique, he was quite boring and predictable.

Still, I thoroughly enjoy the Philosophers in 90 minutes series. Fantastic introductions to famous philosophers and I recommend these books often.

3 out of 5 ⭐️'s

[Richard (Rick) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice little summary of Heideggar's life, as well as his core ideas. Some may critique it as being too much about his life, and too little about his philosophy, but I found that easier to read and provided some nice context for his theories. You definitely won't be a Heideggarian scholar after this, but it was a nice intro.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief reading on Heidegger and his philosophy of “Existence”.What I found fascinating was Hannah Arendt defending him in the war trial of Adolph Eichmann after Heidegger was forced into the Nazi party. Her love for him was powerful throughout her life. By no means were his actions defendable but his impact in the world of philosophy is one we cannot ignore.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

These "in 90 minutes" books are usually history/biography vs. description of ideas, but in this specific case, the biography was interesting -- especially his relationship with the more-interesting Hannah Arendt. Pass if you want to learn about the ideas, but interesting in this case for that history.

[counter-hegemonicon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok so he did not let the nazism slide. I very much wish I’d been made aware of the analytic, continental divide far sooner in life because the need for the schism is abundant clear with all of this unanalyzable psychobabble. The quote from Jung in the book says it best with “philosophy has yet been unable to solve its issue of psychopathology.”