Martin Heidegger is one of the twentieth century's most influential and controversial philosophers. His early fusion of phenomenology with existentialism inspired Sartre and many others, and his Idler critique of modern rationality inspired Derrida and still others. This introduction covers the whole of Heidegger's thought and is ideal for anyone coming to his work for the first time. John Richardson centers his account on Heidegger's efforts to change the very kind of understanding or truth we seek. Beginning with an overview of Heidegger's life and work, he sketches the development of Heidegger's thought up to the publication of Being and Time showing how that book takes up and adapts Husserl's method of phenomenology. He then introduces and assesses the key arguments of Being and Time. Subsequent chapters introduce Heidegger's later philosophy, including his turn towards a historical account of being; his influential writings on language, art, and poetry; and his claim that this history has culminated in a technological relation to things that is deeply problematic, above all in the way it excludes the divine. The final chapter looks at Heidegger's profound influence on intellectual movements ranging from phenomenology to existentialism to postmodernism.

A much-needed and refreshing introduction to this major figure, Heidegger is ideal reading for anyone coming to his work for the first time, and will interest and stimulate students and scholars alike. Book jacket.