Plato's Sophist (Studies in Continental Thought) [Paperback]

Martin Heidegger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2003 | Series: Studies in Continental Thought

This volume reconstructs Martin Heidegger's lecture course at the University of Marburg in the winter semester of 1924-25, which was devoted to an interpretation of Plato and Aristotle. Published for the first time in German in 1992 as volume 19 of Heidegger's Collected Works, it is a major text not only because of its intrinsic importance as an interpretation of the Greek thinkers, but also because of its close, complementary relationship to Being and Time, composed in the same period. In Plato's Sophist, Heidegger approaches Plato through Aristotle, devoting the first part of the lectures to an extended commentary on Book VI of the Nichomachean Ethics. In a line-by-line interpretation of Plato's later dialogue, the Sophist, Heidegger then takes up the relation of Being and non-being, the ontological problematic that forms the essential link between Greek philosophy and Heidegger's thought.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Students and scholars alike can now see for themselves why Heidegger's lectures on the Greeks in the 1920s caused such a stir, and they can judge just what it means to read a Greek text with Heidegger." —John Ellis, University of Memphis

(John Ellis, University of Memphis )

"Thematic and methodological parallels render this volume a fine source for those interested in the archaeology of Being and Time.... The text shows us a young Martin Heidegger at ease and passionate about his subject." —International Philosophical Quarterly

(International Philosophical Quarterly )

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (July 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025321629X
• ISBN-13: 978-0253216298
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't circumscribe your philological opportunities, May 17, 2008

By 

Dee B. (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plato's Sophist (Studies in Continental Thought) (Paperback)

One of Heidegger's finest! The philosopher comes within reach of ancient Greek thought in Plato, primarily through Book VI of Aristotle's "Nichomachean Ethics," and a scrupulous interpretation of Plato's later dialogue, the "Sophist." The treatise is an important and inimitable interpretation of the Greek thinkers, and the connection of their thought with Heidegger's own "Being and Time." The author adduces the ontological problem of the relation of Being and non-being; the essential correlation between the ancient Greek thinkers and Martin Heidegger's own philosophy. Most of the Greek is defined by the author, or through sense expression and translation. Otherwise, a Greek-English Lexicon is of great value.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greek rarely translated in English translations, September 16, 2011

By 

Orson Welles "Hollywood" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Plato's Sophist (Studies in Continental Thought) (Paperback)

Good advice. When reading The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphyics, I had to skip over much of the Greek near the end when he really gets into Aristotle. I did find a Heidegger Greek lexicon online. But I don't understand why the German editors or the English translators don't supply a lexion or simply translated the Greek in parentheses after Heidegger quotes it. Heidegger and his students had a kind of education that no longer exists. They knew Greek. Very, very, very few readers of Heidegger in English do.

19 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Heidegger's Plato's Sophist, April 28, 2000

By 

F. Dirks "Frodo" (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Platos Sophist (Studies in Continental Thought) (Hardcover)

If you want to read this book you do need to have an extensive knowledge of the Greek language. If you can't read Greek, don't buy this book! If you can, it is a very interesting lecture course (1924-1925) and interpretive essay by Heidegger. Leiden, Holland