A Guide to Heidegger's Being and Time

by Magda King, John Llewelyn (Editor)

An indispensable guide to the major work of one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers.

This is the most comprehensive commentary on both Divisions of Heidegger's Being and Time, making it the essential guide for newcomers and specialists alike. Beginning with a non-technical exposition of the question Heidegger poses--"What does it mean to be?"--and keeping that question in view, it gradually increases the closeness of focus on the text. Citing Joan Stambaugh's translation, the author explains the key notions of the original with the help of concrete illustrations and reference to certain of the most relevant works Heidegger composed both before and after the publication of Being and Time.

"Originally published in the early sixties as one of the first English-language commentaries on Heidegger's Being and Time, Magda King's masterful Guide has now been vastly expanded to cover the whole of Being and Time, its renderings of Heidegger's German terms revised to correspond to Joan Stambaugh's new translation of Being and Time, and its discussions of Heidegger's later texts supplemented with references to his recently published earliest texts before Being and Time . In this expanded and revised edition prepared by John Llewelyn, King's Guide is now the best companion volume to use with Stambaugh's new translation of Being and Time. " -- John van Buren, author of The Young Rumor of the Hidden King

"Of all the studies of Being and Time with which I am familiar, Magda King's is the most direct, the simplest, and the clearest. Remarkably, the simplicity and clarity are achieved without loss of detail or accuracy and without dodging difficult interpretive problems. This makes her book an extraordinarily effective guide to a complex work and thus a virtually perfect companion text for use with Being and Time." -- Joseph P. Fell, J. H. Harris Professor Emeritus, Bucknell University

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference

413 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2001

Reviews

[Christian Kiefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Were I to do being and time again, I think I'd skip it and read this instead. About as long and 86% clearer.

[Emre Sevinç · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my excellent companion as I struggled with Being and Time. The author didn't try to water down anything and she provided enough context and clarification, as well as other important and critical work. I can recommend this book to anyone who's planning to read "Being and Time".

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It helps me review the material and try and reconstruct arguments, look at them in new ways, and listen to an academic opinion and even disagree with it to help cement my own. I bought it to augment my copy of Being in Time (Stambaugh).

[Jack Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic (written around 1962) on Heidegger's Being and Time. It helps break down his work very well and illuminates certain aspects of the text that would go unnoticed by most of us (since we all, obviously, don't hold PhDs in ontology or phenomenology). It helped me very much when reading it along with the text itself. However I'm still slightly confused as why the editor of the book decided to use the Joan Stambaugh translation (which is much easier to read) rather than the more standard (and more well known) John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson translation.

[Leonard Houx · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure of this book's position in the pantheon of Being and Time commentaries, but it is certainly way too turgid to recommend.

[Susie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did have to read it for a university course in Phenomenology, but after some mental adjustments this read as easily as a very good novel. Heartbreakingly important.

[Brian Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only way to fully understand Heidegger’s being and time. Both books scratched all my itches on the subject. Just wish there was more on the time bit, understandably so. Very well done helping to describe the tough original text. Highly recommended.
And if you’re debating it, I think you can just read this by itself without the original text. But there is value to reading both at the same time.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

As expected, it’s tough going. The author does the reader the favor of repeating terminology and definitions and relationships between concepts on a regular basis. I would not recommend reading Being and Time without something like this to help.

[Mozan Marzapan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential companion to B&T for anglophones. Couple with Dreyfus' lectures and you're good to go.

[Justin]

Didn't seem to make it much easier to read over the original

[Gerardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulously helpful to me. I have some background in philosophy, so I can't say how others would respond but this careful, step-by-step approach came at the right time for my gaining a better grasp of Heidegger and streams of thinking coming after him.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

An indispensable eye-opener to read along with Heidegger's historic book.

[Natasha Onoshko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on the blog:
https://www.catsandtheories.com/why-w...