So, you're looking to get a handle on Martin Heidegger, a philosopher who certainly sparked a lot of debate in the 20th century. This introduction aims to give you a look into his life and some of his major philosophical ideas, particularly those found in his renowned work, _Being and Time_. Get ready for some deep dives, but we'll keep it accessible! **Who Was Martin Heidegger? A Life of Contrasts** Let's start with the man himself. Martin Heidegger was born into a poor Catholic family in Messkirch, Germany, in 1889. His early life was deeply connected to the Church, with his father serving as a cellarman and sexton, and Martin even receiving scholarships and support from the Church for his education, initially preparing for the priesthood. However, his path soon turned towards philosophy after encountering works by thinkers like Franz Brentano and Carl Braig. He briefly became a Jesuit novice but left due to health issues and potentially a lack of spiritual calling, leading him to study theology and scholastic philosophy at Freiburg University. His academic journey was interrupted by World War I, where he served in postal and meteorological services, deemed unsuitable for combat. A significant personal shift occurred in 1917 when he married a Protestant, Elfriede Petri, and by 1919, he announced his break with Catholicism. Heidegger's career took off after the war when he became an unsalaried lecturer and assistant to Edmund Husserl at Freiburg. He quickly gained a reputation as a brilliant and insightful teacher, even being called the "hidden king" of philosophy. In 1923, he moved to Marburg, where he formed important relationships with theologian Rudolf Bultmann and philosopher Hannah Arendt. Though he hadn't published for a decade, he released his major work, _Being and Time_, in 1927, partly to meet requirements for a full professorship. A big moment came in 1928 when he succeeded Husserl's chair at Freiburg. His inaugural lecture, 'What is Metaphysics?', showed his characteristic style of weaving in seemingly unrelated topics like boredom and insects into philosophical discourse. Heidegger was quite attached to the provincial life of southern Germany, disliking big cities and preferring to work in his mountain cottage at Todtnauberg. He even turned down a chair in Berlin in 1930. Now, here's a more difficult part of his story: his involvement with Nazism. While largely apolitical in the 1920s, he became sympathetic by the early 1930s and joined the NSDAP in May 1933 after being elected rector of Freiburg University in April. His rectoral address avoided explicit antisemitism but did place labor, military service, and knowledge on equal footing as student duties. As rector, he cooperated with the regime but also tried to moderate some aspects. Conflicts led him to resign in 1934, though he remained in the party and claimed disillusionment after the Röhm putsch. Despite publishing little in the 1930s, he continued lecturing, exploring themes like art, Hölderlin, and Nietzsche. Interestingly, his friends argued that his Nietzsche lectures covertly criticized Nazism. By the late 1930s, technology became a more prominent theme in his thought, which he linked to the "forgetfulness of Being". He critiqued empire-building as stemming from the "metaphysical essence of modernity," the will to mastery over nature, a view delivered even at the height of Hitler's power. Towards the end of the war, he was drafted into the Volkssturm for labor duties. After Germany's collapse, he faced a denazification commission in 1945 and was initially banned from teaching until 1949, though he kept his library and received an emeritus professorship. This verdict was influenced by a report from his old friend, Karl Jaspers, who opposed Nazism. His career revived post-ban. He published works like _On Humanism_, distancing himself from French existentialism. He lectured widely, traveled more, and befriended artists and poets. He became an honorary citizen of Messkirch in 1959. In a 1966 interview published posthumously, he attempted to justify his wartime conduct, famously stating, 'Only a god can save us'. He continued publishing revised lectures and worked on a complete edition of his works, wishing for no thought to be lost. Heidegger died in 1976 and was buried in Messkirch, with a Catholic mass held in his memory. This journey, from a religious upbringing to philosophical fame, through political controversy and post-war reflection, certainly makes his life an intriguing tale, and it's his status as a thinker that makes us curious about these details. **Diving into Philosophy: _Being and Time_** Now, let's talk about his philosophy, specifically his most influential work, _Being and Time_ (BT). Many agree it's his one great work, comparable even to Hegel's _Phenomenology of Spirit_. It has significantly influenced not just philosophy but also theology, psychology, and sociology. It's seen as a culmination of his decade of thought leading up to it and a foundation for his later ideas. However, be warned: it's considered one of the most challenging books ever written, with complex language and structure. The central question of BT is: "What is Being?". Heidegger argues this question, once central, has been largely forgotten. To tackle it, he proposes examining a specific entity, the human being, which he calls "Dasein". Why Dasein? Because it's the entity that asks the question of Being and has a preliminary understanding of it. The book is structured in two main sections. The first provides a "preparatory fundamental analysis of Dasein," arguing that Dasein is essentially "in the world" and its Being is "care". The second section introduces time as crucial, arguing that Dasein is fundamentally temporal, looking towards its own death and experiencing its life as a whole. It's interesting to note that BT was originally planned to have more sections, including a third section focusing on Being as such and its relationship to time, more independently of Dasein. This part never fully appeared, though some later works and earlier lectures offer glimpses into its intended themes. The book was also meant to have a second part analyzing the philosophies of Kant, Descartes, and Aristotle, but this too remained incomplete. This brief overview already raises some fascinating questions, like why the question of Being is so important, what exactly Dasein is, and how time is so central to its nature. We'll explore some of these concepts next! **Exploring Key Concepts from _Being and Time_** Heidegger introduces several core ideas to explain Dasein and its world. Let's unpack a few: - **Being vs. Beings:** Heidegger distinguishes 'Being' from 'beings' or 'entities'. 'Beings' are the specific things that exist (a table, a tree, a person), while 'Being' is what makes it possible for anything to _be_ at all. He finds inspiration for this distinction in Aristotle, noting that 'to be' has different senses (existential, predicative, identity). He adds the idea of "how"-being – the mode or manner of an entity's Being. - **The Homogenization of Being:** Heidegger argues that previous philosophers, like Aristotle and Descartes, tended to treat all entities as having the same fundamental mode of Being, often viewing them as merely "present-at-hand" (vorhanden). He challenges this, suggesting that a hammer, for example, is primarily understood not by its physical properties but by its use – it's "ready-to-hand" (zuhanden). Thinking of entities only as bearers of predicates ignores the context and how we engage with them. - **Why Dasein?** As we touched on, Heidegger focuses on the human being, Dasein, not because it's just another entity, but because it's the being that asks about Being and has a preconceptual understanding of it. This understanding, though implicit, is necessary to engage with any beings at all. The term 'Dasein' itself is interesting – it means 'being there' or 'being here', emphasizing that human existence isn't just 'being' like other things, but a specific _way_ of being, one that is "there" in a world. Sometimes hyphenated as 'Da-sein', it stresses the 'being (t)here' aspect. - **Existence and Possibility:** Unlike other entities, Dasein doesn't have a fixed, predetermined nature or "what". Instead, its way of Being involves the capacity to choose among possibilities – how it is to be. Heidegger uses the term 'existence' (Existenz), from Latin roots meaning 'to stand forth', to describe Dasein's unique ability to stand forth and create its own ways of Being. He uses "existentials" (Existenzialien) instead of "categories" to mark Dasein's basic features. While circumstances ("facticity") limit options, Dasein can always respond in various ways. - **Authenticity and Inauthenticity:** Dasein can exist in different ways, being either authentic or inauthentic. 'Authentic' (eigentlich) means 'real' or 'proper', related to 'own' (eigen). To be authentic is to be true to one's own self, one's own person. 'Inauthentic' (uneigentlich) is usually translated as 'not literal' or 'figurative'. Heidegger introduces the concept of the "they" (das Man), an impersonal publicness, representing what "one" does or thinks. When Dasein conforms to the "they" simply because that's what's done, it's inauthentic. Authenticity involves making up one's own mind or being true to one's own self, though this doesn't necessarily mean being eccentric. Importantly, even inauthenticity is a _way_ of being Dasein – a sort of implicit decision to cede choices to the "they". - **Dasein and the Body/Spirit:** Dasein is embodied, not a disembodied ego. However, Heidegger rarely focuses on the body explicitly, viewing it less as a collection of physical properties and more in terms of how it functions within Dasein's activities (like walking, talking, hammering). He sees Dasein's nature (the "software") as primary and the body (the "hardware") as secondary but intimately intertwined. Likewise, concepts like "spirit" (Geist) – sciences, art, social structures – are seen as ways of Dasein's Being-in-the-world, not separate realms. - **Being-in-the-World:** Dasein is essentially "in the world". This isn't just occupying a spatial location. It means Dasein constantly interprets and engages with other entities and their context – the "environment" or "world around us" (Umwelt). It's Dasein's activity that gives rise to a unified world at all. This world isn't primarily a world of natural objects described scientifically, but a world of tools and equipment used for daily needs, connected to human purposes. - **Inconspicuousness of the World:** Normally, the tools and things in Dasein's world are inconspicuous, ready-to-hand and used without explicit thought, as long as they are functioning properly. You only notice the hammer if it breaks or the leather if it's missing. This "circumspect concern" is different from disinterested contemplation. Dasein knows how to use these things and navigate the world, but this understanding isn't always theoretical cognition; it's often a practical know-how. - **The _A Priori_:** Heidegger suggests that Dasein's understanding of tools, equipment, and the world context is a basic, _a priori_ feature of Dasein itself, necessary for it to be Dasein at all. This understanding isn't learned late; it's part of the essential grasp of Being that allows interaction with entities. - **Being-with-Others:** Heidegger argues that Dasein is not a solitary subject first becoming aware of itself and then inferring the existence of others. Being-with-others (Mitsein) is a fundamental part of Dasein's structure. Dasein is incomplete alone; its activities, like making shoes or writing, implicitly cry out for others (suppliers, customers, readers). Dasein's world is inherently public and accessible to others. - **Moods and Understanding:** Heidegger discusses moods (Stimmungen), using the analogy of being "attuned". Moods, like boredom or Angst, can be significant sources of insight, revealing the "worldliness of the world" and showing what is usually inconspicuous. However, moods alone aren't enough; understanding is also crucial. Understanding, for Heidegger, is not theoretical cognition but a preconceptual grasp of the world, things, and oneself, related to knowing "how" to do things and seeing possibilities. Interpretation, whether everyday or philosophical, involves a "fore-structure" – a preliminary understanding, a way of viewing, and preconceptions. - **Truth as Unconcealment:** A striking idea is Heidegger's view of truth not primarily as correspondence between an assertion and a fact, but as "unconcealment" or "uncovering" (alētheia). He argues that assertions are a derivative form of truth. For him, Dasein is the primary place where truth happens; "there is truth only insofar as Dasein is". Falsehood isn't just failing to correspond; it's a matter of covering things up or distorting them. Truth is a matter of degree, shedding light on things. Philosophers' errors might stem from accepting tradition without inspection or casting light in the wrong direction. Philosophical mistakes, for Heidegger, reveal fundamental features of Dasein's tendency to misinterpret. - **Fallenness:** Heidegger argues that Dasein has an essential tendency towards "fallenness" (Verfallen), characterized by "chatter" (Gerede), "curiosity" (Neugier), and "ambiguity" (Zweideutigkeit). While this might not seem to apply to a craftsman absorbed in their work, Heidegger sees it as inherent. Fallenness means Dasein is absorbed in daily tasks without stepping back to see the whole picture. Crucially, the everyday world gets its meaning from the anonymous "they," not the individual Dasein. This conformity is seen as a few steps away from chatter, curiosity, and ambiguity. Yet, everyday Dasein's understanding of Being must align somewhat with Heidegger's account, otherwise, everyone would be wholly deluded, which defies belief. So, everyone is fallen, but somehow the philosopher manages to gain a different perspective. - **Care (Sorge):** Heidegger unifies these features of Dasein under the concept of "care" (Sorge). 'Care' has everyday senses like 'worrying' or 'taking care', but for Heidegger, it's more fundamental. Even someone seemingly careless is still 'caring' in his sense. Care is the basis for "concern" (Besorgen) for things and "solicitude" (Fürsorge) for others. Care is structured as " ahead-of-itself- Being-already-in-(the-world) as Being-alongside (entities encountered within-the-world)". This structure links care to understanding (ahead-of-itself/future), thrownness/facticity (Being-already-in/past), and fallenness (Being-alongside/present). Care is essential for Dasein to dwell in a significant world, and vice versa. - **Being and Dasein:** For Heidegger, without Dasein, there would be no Being as he understands it; no truth, no "world". There would be beings, but perhaps without specific modes of Being, not even "present-at-hand" as we understand it. Science, too, is seen as secondary, derivative from everyday ways of Being. The idea that things are "really" just collections of molecules is a philosophical interpretation, not an objective truth independent of Dasein. The distinction between what is "in itself" and what is "for us" comes from _our_ understanding of Being. **Time, Death, and History: The Temporal Nature of Dasein** Time is central to Heidegger's project, not just a backdrop but deeply intertwined with Dasein's Being. - **Why Time?** Heidegger argues that Being has traditionally been viewed in terms of time, linking the Greek word for 'being' (ousia) with 'presence' (parousia), though he notes this link isn't straightforward. - **Dasein is Temporal:** Dasein's awareness extends beyond the present, running ahead into the future and reaching back into the past. Dasein's temporality is what opens up "world-time" and makes the world temporal. Human existence, the entry of Dasein, is seen as an event of massive import, bringing history, significance, and worldhood into being. In BT, Dasein takes on roles traditionally assigned to God, being finite and temporal, opening up a world. - **Death:** Heidegger introduces death not just as a biological event, but as Dasein's "final possibility," a possibility that ends all others. His concept of "dying" or "being towards death" refers to Dasein's awareness that it will die, which permeates its whole life and prevents a life of perpetual postponement. He makes specific claims about this "ontological" dying: it's certain, one must do it oneself, the certainty isn't just empirical, it terminates possibilities, its timing is uncertain, it can happen at any moment, it confers wholeness, and it's "non-relational". He distinguishes this from "ontical" demise, the factual death of a living creature. The idea is that one knows non-empirically they will die as Dasein, though empirically they will die as a body. - **Conscience and Guilt:** Heidegger uses "Conscience" (with a capital 'C') for a fundamental call to Dasein to choose, to take responsibility for its Being. This is distinct from traditional "conscience" which guides specific moral choices. Responding to the call of Conscience reveals that Dasein is primordially "Guilty" (with a capital 'G'). This isn't about committing wrong acts, but is an inherent state of every Dasein, though only authentic Dasein realizes it. - **Resoluteness:** Responding to Conscience involves "resoluteness" (Entschlossenheit), a decisive choice about how to be. This isn't about following established rules; resolute Dasein must make its _own_ choice, even if there are no external criteria for right or wrong choices. Resolute Dasein "runs ahead" to its death, acknowledging its finite possibilities. For Heidegger, resolute Dasein is essential for philosophical insight, allowing one to withdraw from everydayness and engage with the philosophical tradition authentically. - **Notions of Time:** Heidegger identifies different ways time is understood or experienced: "primordial" or "authentic" temporality (of resolute Dasein), "inauthentic" temporality (of everyday Dasein), "world-time" (the public time where we encounter things), and "vulgar" or "ordinary" time (time as a homogeneous sequence of "nows"). He sees the latter deriving from the former by simplification. - **History and Historicality:** Heidegger connects temporality to history. Historical time isn't just a uniform sequence but involves qualitatively distinct periods. For him, "history is what we are," meaning our present situation is steeped in tradition, and studying history requires a prior understanding from our present. He distinguishes Historie (historiography, the study of past events) from Geschichte (the history that happens). Words like "fate" (Schicksal) and "destiny" (Geschick) are related to the idea of "happening" (geschehen). - **Choosing Heroes:** Running ahead to death individualizes Dasein, but to find possibilities for its "fate," Dasein must return to the past and "choose its hero," repeating or retrieving possibilities from historical figures. This isn't limited to one hero or type; Heidegger himself drew from philosophers and poets. This engagement with the past involves interpreting, replying, and reworking traditional ideas. This "fate" contributes to the "destiny" of wider communities. Inauthentic historicality involves being absorbed in the present or studying history purely antiquarianly, without engaging with its possibilities for one's own existence. Authentic historiology, inspired by figures like Nietzsche, involves monumental (looking for inspiration), antiquarian (preserving the past), and critical (critiquing the present) aspects. **Later Thoughts and Controversies** Heidegger's thinking didn't stop with BT, and he continued to develop his ideas, sometimes seeming to contradict earlier points. - **Art and Language:** Later, he turned to art, seeing works like Van Gogh's painting or a Greek temple as revealing or establishing a world in a way that everyday things do not. Language became increasingly important, seen not just as expressing meaning but as the "house of being," establishing a significant world. He moved away from the idea of language as a logical system or merely rooted in activity, seeing it as forming basic words that open up views of things as a whole. His own writing style became more dynamic, using verbs and emphasizing ambiguity to reveal deeper truths. - **Earth and the Fourfold:** In later works, he introduced the idea of "earth" in tension with "world". Eventually, he conceived of the world as the "eventful mirror-play" of four regions: earth, sky, gods, and mortals. A "thing," like a jug or a bridge, "things" by bringing these four into relation. This later focus aimed to rescue things from being merely objects of technology. - **Religious Leanings?** While he excluded theology from BT and saw Christian philosophy as absurd, some concepts in BT are secularized religious ideas. He rejected the idea of God as just another being. In later works, he spoke of "gods" and denied being an atheist or theist. He suggested there's a dimension where God or gods can be located, and that humans are open to this dimension, acting as "shepherds of Being" who guard the truth of Being as it destines things to appear. - **The Dark Side: Antisemitism:** It is crucial to acknowledge evidence of antisemitism in Heidegger's private writings. Letters and his "Black Notebooks" show conspiratorial antisemitic remarks, attributing a special "talent for calculation" to Jews and associating them with rootlessness and the negative aspects of technology. Some argue this reflects a projection of his own rootlessness and detachment onto others. Despite his rural attachment, Heidegger himself underwent significant personal and intellectual shifts, arguably making him rootless in a spiritual sense. Philosophizing itself requires a certain detachment from everydayness and native surroundings. Heidegger saw moods like anxiety and boredom as ways to achieve this detachment, similar to the effect he attributed to technology. This suggests a tension between his critique of rootlessness (linked to Jews) and his own embrace of philosophical detachment. **In Conclusion: A Philosopher to Wrestle With** Heidegger remains a deeply controversial figure, seen by some as a brilliant philosopher and by others as a charlatan. His work is complex but incredibly influential. By exploring concepts like Dasein, care, temporality, and his critique of traditional metaphysics and technology, we gain insight into his unique perspective on Being and the human condition. However, this must be weighed against the disturbing evidence of his antisemitism and his relationship with Nazism, which remains a significant point of contention for understanding his legacy. **Further Ideas and Questions to Explore:** Reading about Heidegger can spark many questions. Here are just a few to consider: - How would the missing parts of _Being and Time_ have changed our understanding of his project? - If Dasein's temporality is tied to its death, how can Heidegger's account be compatible with beliefs in immortality or a life after death? - Heidegger suggests everyday Dasein is 'fallen' and inauthentic, yet its preconceptual understanding of Being must be somewhat correct for philosophy to be possible. How exactly does the philosopher 'haul himself up' from this fallenness? - Heidegger believed dying individualizes Dasein and helps it escape the 'they'. Can someone truly escape the influence of the 'they' or tradition, or is this distinction more complex? - Given his critique of technology and rootlessness, and the evidence of his antisemitism linking these to Jews, how does this influence our reading of his philosophical ideas, particularly his later turn towards earth, language, and poetry as ways to overcome the problems of modernity? - Heidegger draws inspiration from ancient Greeks and poets to find a way beyond modern problems. Is this return to a specific past an authentic path forward, or another form of seeking heroes from tradition?