Being and Time (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)

Being and Time is, obviously a ground-breaking work but it is also a work that frustrates many readers. It is not a book that one should try to read without the necessary background (some knowledge of phenomenology) and, ideally, without some guidance (i.e. a class in Heidegger). There are a number of books that attempt to make Being and Time more accessible. Unfortunately a number of them are very problematic. Personally I would recommend A Guide to Heidegger's Being and Time (Suny Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy) by Magda King. It is not the easiest or most accessible of the commentaries on Being and Time but it is one of the more accurate in my opinion. It also focuses more on the second division which is really the more important division though it is also the more difficult division and for precisely that reason it often gets less attention in the secondary literature. I should say a word about this particular translation. I do not read German but I have read both this translation and the new Stambaugh/Schmidt translation so I have a few comments about their relative virtues. As I said in my review of the Stambaugh/Schmidt translation I really like the Macquarrie/Robinson translation partly because it is the first translation I read so I got used to the terminology and partly because Macquarrie and Robinson give, I think, a better sense of the German by choosing slightly awkward translations (like ready-to-hand and present-at-hand, etc.). The fact is that Heidegger is introducing neologisms so I like the fact that Macquarrie and Robinson invent their own neologisms to translate many of Heidegger's most important terms. They also have extremely detailed notes throughout the book relating to the translation. Those are two definite virtues of this particular translation. There are two main virtues of the Stambaugh/Schmidt translation in my opinion. First, the translation is smoother and probably a bit more accessible for first time readers. The main advantage, however, is that Schmidt has put in brackets for all the major 'sein' words which indicate precisely what German word Heidegger is using. This overcomes to a large degree the need for different translations/capitalizations/hyphens, etc. (Being, be-ing, beings, entities, etc.) for all the different 'sein' terminology (it is important to realize that this only applies to the new Stambaugh/Schmidt translation; as far as I know the original Stambaugh translation does not include these bracketed terms). The bottom line is I think anyone who is serious about Being and Time should own and read both translations particularly if you are like me and do not read German. I should probably say a few words about the content of Being and Time. It seems a little ridiculous to write about a book that has achieved such status but my conscience will not let me post a review without saying anything about the contents of a book. Heidegger is, of course, primarily interested in the question of Being as he makes clear in his two introductions. Heidegger believes that Being is something that Dasein understands. We understand what it is for something 'to be' but we understand it in a vague way. Heidegger wants to make this vague understanding explicit but to do so he must understand the being that understands, i.e. Dasein. Most of Being and Time is taken up with an analysis of Dasein and its manner of being. The first division lays out what Heidegger calls the existentials of Dasein. They are like the categories that are applied to beings other than Dasein, the existentials are the a priori's of the being of Dasein. In the second division he grounds all these existentials temporally, specifically, on the three temporal ecstases of the having-been, the present, and the to-come. For Heidegger Dasein is essentially futural meaning the future has precedence. Dasein is its possibilities. This might seem strange but it makes perfect sense. Everything we do has reference to the future and to projects. I read Being and Time because I have projected a future in which I become a philosophy professor, etc. (the father in Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road (Oprah's Book Club) discovers this essential truth when he is looking through a bookcase at the end of the world and realizes that books make no sense when there is no future; their very being as books is predicated on a future. There is no reason to read after the apocalypse when there is no future because there are no human possibilities). McCarthy is being very Heideggerians since one of Heidegger's basic insights is that it is on the basis of the future, a thrown project, that Dasein is able to exist meaningfully in the world and make sense out of inner-worldly beings. This review is merely the barest skeleton of an outline of a few themes from Being and Time. Ultimately it is impossible to write a summary of such an epoch-making book. It might have been better to simply avoid trying to summarize it at all but I wanted to say at least something about the book. Heidegger has completely altered our understanding of our own being as well as the meaning of Being in general. Heidegger's influence on Continental philosophy is incalculable. All roads into Continental philosophy lead through Heidegger. There are many who seem to think, due to the difficulty of Heidegger's text, that it is in fact non-sense, a giant prank, and that Heidegger is not really saying anything (this is an extreme view I know but it is not all that different from the critiques leveled at Heidegger by prominent philosophers like Rudolf Carnap). For now I will simply offer my assurances to the reader: Heidegger's text is difficult, there is no doubt about that, but if you are truly interested in understanding it and you have the patience to work through it over many years (it will take many years) then I promise you Heidegger's book does make sense! Whether you will agree with Heidegger's positions is another question but it is my honest opinion that anyone who truly desires to understand this book can if they are willing to put in the work.

Published in 1927, Martin Heidegger's `Being and Time' is widely regarded as one of the Twentieth Century's most influential philosophical texts. This review refers to the hard cover version of the Macquarie and Robinson translation. In Being and Time, Heidegger sets out to examine the meaning of being, that is, what does it mean for something to `be'? And, while Heidegger identifies three modes of being, including, the present to hand (things) and, the ready to hand (equipment), he is primarily concerned with that mode of being he refers to as Dasien (being in the world). That is, beings for whom their be-ing is an issue - in other words us. The work is divided in two divisions. Division I considers the question of being, while Division II, seeks to anchor the meaning of being in temporality. To what degree, this endeavor is successful is an open question. Heidegger himself abandoned this project after Division II, although it was originally envisioned as a much larger treatise. Notwithstanding it success, or lack thereof, Being and Time is a seminal text in Twentieth Century philosophy. Heidegger's rich and insightful existential phenomenology has influenced, a tremendous range of subsequent thinkers, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, Taylor - to name just a few. Despite its clear importance, Being and Time is a daunting text, characterized by abstruse language, bad prose and poor structure. Approached without the assistance of a skilled guide it can be impenetrable. Following are a few sources that may be helpful to readers in approaching Being in Time (there are likely many more good aids; these are just the ones that have recently used). Texts: Heidegger, `History of the Concept of Time' (1925 lecture notes) - elaborates and provides context Heidegger, `Basic Problems' (1927 lectures notes) - again elaborates and provides context Blattner, Heidegger's Being and Time: A Reader's Guide'- discussion of Division I Blattner, `Heidegger's Temporal Idealism' - discussion of Division II and Heidegger's early view on temporality Audio Lectures (free on-line): Hubert Dreyfus, Phil 185 (Divisiion I) - Course (itunes/UC Berkley/Philosophy) - outstanding resource by a leading Heidegger scholar Hubert Dreyfus, Phil 189 (Division II) - (itunes/UC Berkley/Philosophy) - - outstanding resource by a leading Heidegger scholar John Drabinski `Between Husserl and Heidegger' (google Drabinski) - Provides background on phenomenology and Husserl as well as taking up `History of the Concept of Time' Other (on-line): Roderick Munday. Being and Time Glossary. I have only glanced at this, however, it seems well done. Some may chafe at this approach - seeing immersion as the better approach. Overall, Being and Time is an essential piece of reading for anyone seeking to gain insight into contemporary continental philosophy

An amazing read....with some resoluteness I've completed Division 1. By all means this endeavour was not a frivolous one, along with Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, Heidegger paves the way for continental philosophy. I seriously recommend this book for anybody who's willing to commit to it . When received, the book was expertly packaged for shipping and it was in excellent shape (and the dust jacket was even cellophaned).

This book is absolutely essential if you are into continental philosophy. It is not a an easy read in fact this book will need years to slowly digest, and appreciate. One of the pinnacles of modern philosophy, irrespective of heideggers own political affiliations

これは商品紹介でペーパーバック版とされているもの（ISBN 978-0-06-157559-4、Harper perennial modern thoughtの１冊）に対する速報レビューです。 到着したばかりでざっと眺めただけですし、ドイツ語の原書ならともかく良質な邦語訳がある現在、英訳本を通読することはないでしょう。 で、本文ですが、確かに巻末の原著注などは小さい活字ではありますが（印刷のことに詳しくないので何ポイントということが言えません）印刷は鮮明であり、買い直さねばならないような商品では全くありません。 最近よく見かけるディジタルデータを基に日本で印刷したものでも無いようです。（そういう書籍も印刷不鮮明だった経験はありません） このような重要文献が日本の文庫本のような分冊ではなく、ハンディな１巻本で手に入る諸外国をやや羨ましく思います。 なお詳しい方はご存じでしょうが、本文の訳は1962年のもので、Taylor Carmanによる8ページ余りのForewordのみが2008年に追加されたものです。

Não sei se algum dia conseguirei avaliar pois não sei se algum dia vou ter coragem de ler, as estrelas são pela importância do filosofo.

Extremely pleased!