Customer Reviews

Heidegger: Through Phenomenology to Thought (Perspectives in Continental Philosophy)

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I am surprised this book only has two reviews so far. It has been awhile since I read the first half of this book (a few years) so my review will be fairly general (I am currently re-reading some of the later sections for a graduate seminar I am taking on Heidegger which is why I decided to offer my review now despite the fact that I do not have the time to go back and re-read the first half of the book so I apologize for not going into more detail about Richardson's coverage of Being and Time which, as I recall, was quite good).

This book is a classic work on Heidegger and one of the most cited. The preface was written by Heidegger himself and it takes in the full scope of Heidegger's project all the way from Being and Time, through the turn, and up until Heidegger's late essays. It is really an indispensable book for anyone looking for a summary of Heidegger's entire project from beginning to end. It has chapters on Being and Time and Heidegger's Kant book (which most books on Heidegger do not devote an entire chapter to despite the fact that it is a very important book) as well as chapters on nearly every important essay Heidegger ever wrote. For breadth of coverage you simply cannot find another book that equals Richardson's at least to my knowledge. If you are working your way through Heidegger's essays this book makes a truly excellent companion.

The level of exposition is advanced. This is not an introductory book. I have been studying Heidegger for five years or so and I still have a great deal of difficulty understanding Richardson in places. Richardson does not seem to me to always be the clearest of writers. Perhaps part of that is that the breadth of Richardson's coverage requires that he be succinct rather than offering long explanations when long explanations would be helpful. Whatever the case may be you should be prepared to struggle with this one unless you are already an expert in Heidegger (in which case you have probably already read this book - most likely more than once). But the struggle is worth it.

I should point out that Richardson's understanding of Heidegger as divided between Heidegger I (before the turn) and Heidegger II (after the turn) is apparently no longer the preferred way of reading Heidegger. It has become clear since this book was published that there was much more continuity to Heidegger's thought than originally assumed. Despite that minor flaw this book is still a book that every serious student of Heidegger will eventually have to read and come to terms with.

-Brian

1. Read Jose Pablo Feinmann ¨La Filosofia y el barro de la historia"
2. Have a try to Being and Time
3. A book by author: Steiner: Heidegger
4. Heidegger by Gianni Vattimo
5. "El joven Heidegger" by Adrián Escudero, Jesús

And finally THIS GREAT BOOK. This one will clarify everything.

This book contains a detailed study on Heidegger's works, the different stages of his thought. The philosopher himself wrote the introduction to this very complete treatise.