Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics, Fifth Edition, Enlarged (Studies in Continental Thought) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Richard Taft (Author) "The following investigation is devoted to the task of interpreting Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as a laying of the ground for metaphysics and thus..." (more)
Key Phrases: veritative synthesis, pure schemata, finite pure reason, Transcendental Deduction, Metaphysica Generalis, Metaphysica Specialis (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"... one of Heidegger's most important and extraordinary works.... indispensable for anyone interested in Heidegger's thought as well as in current trends in hermeneutics, ethics, and political philosophy." -- Interpretation

"Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics is among the most important readings in this century of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. This authoritative English translation will play an important role in determining Heidegger's reputation in the coming years." -- Choice

"Heidegger's interpretation of Kant remains a challenging way to address the issues that both Kant and Heidegger saw as crucial.... In reading [Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics] we can struggle with some basic issues of human existence in the company of two great minds." -- International Philosophical Quarterly

Since its original publication in 1929, Martin Heidegger's provocative book on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason has attracted much attention both as an important contribution to twentieth-century Kant scholarship and as a pivotal work in Heidegger's own development after Being and Time. The work is significant not only for its illuminating assessment of Kant's thought but also for its elaboration of themes first broached in Being and Time, especially the problem of how Heidegger proposed to enact his destruction of the metaphysical tradition and the role that his reading of Kant would play therein.

Language Notes

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

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press; Fifth Edition, Enlarged edition (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253210674
• ISBN-13: 978-0253210678
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #251,578 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being and Time, Part II, February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This is perhaps the second most important text from Heidegger behind the monumental Being and Time. Where Being and Time ends abruptly without venturing into the destruction of the history of western ontology, the "Kant book" appears to be a sketch of the possible direction of Heidegger's fundamental ontology.

Surprisingly enough, Heidegger offers a rather faithful exegesis of Kant's discussion of the schematism from the Critique of Pure Reason. This is a close and careful reading of Kant which demonstrates Heidegger's skill at reconstruction of an existing text. The short Part One of this book is a work of art as Heidegger clearly defines Kant's project as a groundwork for metaphysics, that is, as ontology, by tracing the initial remarks by Kant to their Greek and scholastic origins. Therefore, Heidegger argues that the Kant of the First Critique does not bring forth a theory of knowledge (and against the Prolegomena that Kant is making a foundation for science), but rather, that the real project is a critique of metaphysics by returning to ontology as the groundwork for metaphysics. Thus, this project runs straight into Heidegger's own concerns of the possibility of anthropology.

Included in this edition is a transcript of the historical (and highly entertaining) debate between Heidegger and Ernst Cassier from the Davos lectures. Along with this, the editors have included other illuminating notes, drafts, and forwards.

Whether for or against Heidegger, this book clearly demonstrates the enormous philosophical skills of Martin Heidegger.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The origin of Deconstruction. Read before `Being and Time'., February 21, 2000

By	Craig G Cram (St. John's, Newfoundland Canada) - See all my reviews

Intended to be part of `Being and Time', but published separately and after BT. Heidegger's intention for `Kant and The Problem of Metaphysics' is straight forward; that is, Rational-Cognitive subjectivity (as presented in Kant's `Critique of Pure Reason') is not a tenable basis for metaphysics. Why? Because `time' alone can provide a foundation for metaphysics; thereby, dispensing with Reason, subjectivity and the rest of Kant's transcendental machinery. Heidegger claims to have `found Kant out'; that is, earlier editions of Kant's Critique has time as a much more important notion. Heidegger accuses Kant of recoiling from the primacy of time, and goes on to demonstrate that time is the basis of any possible metaphysics; to be carried out as a fundamental ontology via `Being and Time'.

Watch out for Heidegger's own recoil regarding spatiality and its relation to time.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars systematic and technical Heidegger, September 1, 2005

By	Rob Monk "Rob Monk" (Sacramento) - See all my reviews

It is primarily and for the most part a readable translation of some very difficult to translate, much less understand and appropriate, esoteric thought. An absolute must read for any would-be Heideggerians, and not a bad place to get some insight into Kant at the same time.