Martin Heidegger (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

Author of the classic BEING AND TIME (1927; English translation, 1962), Martin Heidegger developed a difficult but powerfully imaginative philosophy based on the contemplation of Being in contrast to Nothing. Heidegger’s thinking has inspired the existentialists of the post-World War II period and contemporary post-modernists.

The controversial character of Heidegger’s work has, in part, been due to the difficulty of clearly defining his concepts and to his fondness for inventing new and sometimes nearly incomprehensible terms. Controversies about the work have also been due, however, to controversies about the man. During the 1930’s, Heidegger supported German leader Adolf Hitler and joined the Nazi Party.

Most previous books about Heidegger have concentrated either on his philosophy or on his politics. Rüdiger Safranski’s biography is one of the first works to consider both of these subjects in depth and to show how the two were related. The book traces the development of Heidegger’s ideas and attempts to explain how these ideas led a brilliant but morally flawed individual to support Hitler.

Safranski’s book is primarily an intellectual biography. About three-fourths of it focuses on Heidegger’s writings and only about one-fourth of it concerns the philosopher’s life. It is an excellent and highly readable introduction to Heidegger’s philosophy and it sheds valuable light on the thinker’s connections to Nazism. However, it does not provide a sufficient picture of Heidegger’s personality to help readers understand the man behind the ideas. Heidegger’s ability to attract, in person as well as through his writing, even those repelled by his collaboration with Nazism, will leave readers wanting more information about this mysterious, magnetic individual. Nevertheless, Safranski’s biography is an impressive achievement that will be of interest to anyone with an interest in contemporary philosophy or intellectual history.

Sources for Further Study

Booklist. XCIV, March 15, 1998, p. 1182.

Library Journal. CXXIII, March 15, 1998, p. 67.

The New Leader. LXXXI, June 29, 1998, p. 12.

The New Republic. CCXIX, October 26, 1998, p. 30.

The New York Times Book Review. CIII, May 3, 1998, p. 12.

Publishers Weekly. CCXLV, March 16, 1998, p. 46.

The Times Literary Supplement. November 27, 1998, p. 30.

The Washington Post Book World. XXVIII, June 14, 1998, p. 3.

The Wilson Quarterly. XXII, Summer, 1998, p. 108.