Heidegger's Later Philosophy

by Julian Young

This book offers a clear and informative interpretation of Heidegger's extremely complex later philosophy (which is often dismissed as unintelligible mysticism), exploring its main themes and offering analyses of its most obscure formulations. It will be widely welcomed by students as well as scholars in Heidegger studies.

Genres: Philosophy

148 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2001

Reviews

[Amirhossain Khairandish · Rating 4 out of 5]

من با متون دست اول هایدگر چندان آشنایی ندارم که قاضی این موضوع باشم که آیا این کتاب تفسیر خوبی از فلسفه هایدگر ارائه داده یانه؟ اما به عنوان کسی که نیاز به یک متن مقدماتی برای ورود به فلسفه ی هایدگر داشتم کتاب روان و خوبی بود که کمک کرد تا با مسائل اولیه فلسفه واپسین هیدگر آشنا بشم

[Paul H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is simply not very good --- there are far better introductions to the later Heidegger. Just off the top of my head, Vycinas's "Earth and Gods", Polt's "Heidegger: An Introduction" and "Emergency of Being," von Herrmann's "Wege ins Ereignis," and Poggeler's "Denkweg Martin Heideggers" are all far superior. All of these books are perfectly clear and well-written (i.e. not bogged down in post-structuralism), and show a true interpretive depth. Young literally seems to have just written down every instance of a word in Heidegger (for example, pp. 94-102, 'divinities' or 'gods'), mixed up contexts completely, and then presented a vague summary of 'the gods' that has absolutely no sensitivity or hermeneutic depth whatsoever ... he combines references to divinities from the 1920s, 1960s, and 1930s in the same paragraph, taking each instance completely out of context, and assuming that he's found some sort of 'general' Heideggerian doctrine. A thoroughly unhelpful book.

[Alexander]

Young advances a compelling view on which one can understand the large and meandering (that's a Heidegger joke) set of texts that comprise later Heidegger in terms of"dwelling," and I'm impressed by how clearly and succinctly he presents it. While I disagree with some central aspects of Young's approach, he also gets a lot of stuff right.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julian Young's book does a good job of laying out the major concepts of Martin Heidegger's later philosophy. It is a succinct guide for the perplexed. Where it wobbles is in the attempt at reconstructing an ethics. Young's version of Heidegger's ethics seems rather reductive. More could have been done there.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julian Young’s book is an excellent attempt to make sense of the rather difficult later philosophy of Heidegger. Young centers in on ‘Caring’ and applies it, actively and passively, to the ‘Fourfold’, that is the coming together of earth, sky, mortals, and divinities. It was an interesting interpretation even if it was one that I found to be sadly lacking.

Young almost ignores Heidegger’s rendering of ereignis– the event of appropriation- that seems so central to Heidegger’s work. There lies the linchpin that pulls everything together and ignoring it meant that the resulting interpretation seemed lacking to me. Among other problems, ignoring ereignis meant that the descriptions of divinities became merely role models in one’s life, which didn’t feel the least bit ‘divine’ or right. Having said all that, I did find the reading of the book one of the most satisfying experiences in ages. There were nine chapters and I read one chapter each day and followed up with an early evening walk to ruminate on it. The result was that, in a roundabout way, I got closer to my Heidegger while I was dismissing Young’s. An excellent read.

[Torgeir Fjeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accessible, thoroughly researched, and clearly written account of some absolutely essential concepts in Heidegger's philosophy. On reading it you emerge with a much clearer account of what some of these notions mean, and how to put them to work. Recommended for everyone with a serious interest in Heidegger and who prefer thorough and no-nonsense introductions.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly excellent overview of Heidegger's later writing, especially on technology and the gods. Young is by far the clearest expositor of the 20th-century Germans (see also his book on Nietzsche's philosophy of religion.) The Heidegger material this book covers can be maddeningly opaque, but Young takes a straightforward, methodical approach to clarifying it (and noting where it can't be clarified). It's also a good length - long enough to give a complete picture of the key concepts in late Heidegger, but not so long and complex that it's difficult to use as a starting point.