Description
Book SynopsisIn a new approach to a vexing problem in modern philosophy, William H. F. Altman shows that Heideggerâs decision to join the Nazis in 1933 can only be understood in the context of his complicated relationship with the Great War.
Trade ReviewAltman’s scholarship is voluminous, especially regarding material detailing Heidegger’s personal and professional life. . . .It may also be mentioned that throughout this study, Altman introduces incidental references and allusions to a number of other works by Heidegger, the most noteworthy are the Hölderlin Lectures of 1934–35 which Altman reads in ways which support his contention that Heidegger’s prose can readily be connected to themes associated with WWI. For anyone with a special interest in Heidegger’s readings of poetry, whether Greek or German, the discussions and background material pertaining to Hölderlin are valuable and constitute a suggestive interpretive base for determining the import of Heidegger’s many writings on this important poet. . . .The juxtaposition of a set of complex particular circumstances—all details pertaining to “the case of Heidegger” including the considerable material Alston gathered relating Heidegger to WWI—with the broader and more traditional concerns embodied in the western tradition of philosophical speculation invites us to rethink just what philosophy is and what we should expect it to accomplish. Should the structure of philosophizing necessarily include individual characteristics incarnated in the psychological profiles of its authors as well as repercussions from the historical, cultural, political and social conditions which circumscribe their work? Does this subtle and complex ambiance affect the nature of philosophical inquiry or, from a traditional perspective, can the import and value of philosophy continue to be detached from these surroundings? These questions as derived from Altman’s book represent a signal subject for additional reflection. * ID: International Dialogue, A Multidisciplinary Journal of World Affairs *
Altman’s historical research illuminates important dimensions of Heidegger’s thought and mentality, and contributes to a richer grasp of the context and meaning of Being and Time. -- Richard Polt, Professor of Philosophy, Xavier University
William Altman analyzes Heidegger’s theories in Being and Time against the background of the First World War, on which they depend. This is an important book. -- Tom Rockmore, Duquesne University
Through wide-ranging research combined with meticulous close readings of often overlooked texts, William Altman sheds important new light on Heidegger’s thought and politics in the historical context of interbellum Germany. Altman’s readings will no doubt be controversial, but this book deserves the attention of anyone wanting to make sense of the connections between Heidegger’s philosophy, his place within the generation of the Great War, and his own eventual engagement with National Socialism. -- Gregory Fried, Suffolk University
In connecting Being and Time with the epideictic genre, and in interpreting it as a funeral oration for the German soldiers fallen during the Great War, William Altman sheds new light on the call for the 'struggle to come' launched by Heidegger in Section 74 of that work, and gives a greater concreteness—martial, so to speak—to the Heideggerian conception of the relation between present, past, and future. It is the anticipation of a Second World War that is already in sight. -- Emmanuel Faye, University of Rouen, France
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Heidegger the Warrior Chapter 2: Davos and Decline Chapter 3: Heidegger’s War Chapter 4: Reading Heidegger’s Being and Time Chapter 5: Vorlaufende Entschlossenheit Chapter 6: Being and Time, Section §74 Chapter 7: The Nature of Being and Time Chapter 8: Hassan Givsan and Heidegger’s World Wars Chapter 9: War-Guilt
