By Jeff Collins Introducing Heidegger [Paperback]

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Jeff Collins

Martin Heidegger-- was he philosophy's hidden king or the leading exponent of a dangerously misguided secular mysticism? Heidegger has been acclaimed as the most powerfully original philosopher of the twentieth century, making a deep impact on thinkers like Sartre, Habermas, Foucault, Lacan and Derrida. Standing behind all major strands of postmodern thought, Heidegger announced the end of philosophy and of humanism and was a vocal supporter of Hitler's National Socialism. Was he offering a deeply conservative mythology or a crucial "overcoming" of philosophy as we have known it?Introducing Heidegger provides an accessible introduction to his notoriously abstruse thinking, examining its historical contexts and its resonances in ecology, theology, art, literature and other fields. Jeff Collins' rewarding text, powerfully illustrated by Howard Selina, explores a kind of thinking whose outlines still are not clear, and whose forms may still surprise us.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics, Graphic Novels, Biography, History, Academic

Paperback

First published August 10, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Beth Shapeero]

After reading excerpts from Being and Time and The essay: The Origin of a Work of Art I have reached the conclusion the Heidegger doesn’t really know what he’s on about, I think he confuses himself!

This Introducing book is a helpful guide, it certainly cleared a few things up for me and there are some interesting ideas in there. The problem with the these help guides is that they contain so much information that it becomes quite difficult to retain it. Better used as a reference when something gets confusing (so basically all the time when reading Heidegger) than a straight read.

[Zacki Kino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well i think i need to reread soon :D
this was not the hardest thing to read but the hardest thing to engage with mentally like i knew what i was getting into but yet i found his later ideas rather hard to grasp the book itself it gets distracted around the latter half but still it has a lot to offer i can say it gave me an understanding however brief it may be of what heideggar was after and it really made me think about a rather forgotten topic :D

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the cartoony style of the book which kept it semi-interesting, but I ended up deciding Heidegger is hardly worth the effort. I'm sure he helped move some thought along in his time by loosening terms and experimenting with idea-games, but I'm not convinced he did much more to earn his place as one of the fathers of existentialism. I'll be honest and say that his Nazi sympathies and lack of post-war remorse was the final straw for me, but he also struck me as a academic playboy vying for first-chair in the philosophy department. The very fact that "Being And Time" was practically unfinished and rushed into publication so he could fill the vacancy left by the former chair of his department, Husserl, tells me just about all I need to know about him. No wonder he makes very little sense...he didn't have to! Is this an Emperor-with-no-clothes kind of thing?

It wasn't all a waste, I suppose. I like the idea of 'Da-sein' (human beings defined as 'there-being'--better translated as 'being-there') as a deconstruction and broadening of the idea of what it means to be human--that humanity is a more complex first-principle than what religions, sciences, and philosophies have reduced it too. The idea of Da-sein as being in-the-world is a reminder that Da-sein can't be separated from it's environment, and that it is always Da-sein itself that is considering itself as separate object while not being truly capable of separating itself as idea or object from the environmental fabric with which it is partly identified. The world and even time itself is 'bent' by Da-sein (a foreshadowing of Einstein's rather unoriginal idea) and can therefore only be understand as part of the holistic picture with no beginning/end.

Heidegger expanded on Husserl’s Time-Consciousness which expanded on Bergson’s work. "Husserl believed that time ‘appeared’ in consciousness in much the same way that a musical melody is known. The melody is knowable only through the simultaneous operation of three acts of consciousness:
1. Retention: notes which are no longer sounding have to be retained in memory
2. Attention: a ‘primal impression’ of each note, as it sounds, must be gained
3. Protention: the auditor must ‘listen ahead’ and construct expectations of what might or might not follow.

Time must be viewed in the same way. Not linear, but simultaneous consciousness of all principles at once."

There ya go. The rest was gobbleygook. Well, not really, but it did feel like a spiral into meaningless theology (which I admit I can no longer stomach in the least), politics, academic pedantry, wishful thinking, and ice cream I want ice cream. Plus, he was a friggin Nazi. So...

Well, it was nice to met you Heideggar, but I'd like my sanity back now. As one redditor said about a completely unrelated subject (and I have no idea why I remember this): "Ride free into the scintillating frog sunset, you mad bastard."

Credit for frog sunset quote: (T_WRX21, https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearne...)

[Noel Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heidegger is an easily ignored mystic masquerading as a philosopher and this book does a great job of making that clear without quite coming out and saying it.

[Kundry Algoet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Als mijn Dasein er is, is het gericht op zijn toekomstige mogelijkheden. Maar aangezien dit toekomstige mogelijkheden betreft, is het er nog niet helemaal. Besta ik dan enkel in het verleden? Wanneer kan mijn Dasein zijn?

5/5 filosofie voor het slapengaan

[Cole Mrgich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collins did a good job at taking what is considered dense and confusing and making it so it can be as understood as possible “for beginners.” Any point or summarization made in this book has the capability to be studied intensively. It was nice to see how and who his work influenced.

[Mehwish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had tried to read "being and time" but never managed to get past the first few pages. This introductory guide broke Heidegger for me and I think I will be able to read him now. Or maybe not. Either way it is okay. I think I can live my life without understanding Heidegger.

[Castles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was always curious about Heidegger's philosophy and its impact on the great thinkers of the 20th century, and while I did get a small clue, this book doesn’t answer all the questions.

It is of course understandable considering Heidegger is not a simple philosopher to follow.

I’m curious how and why so many big thinkers engaged with his works even though he was indeed an active nazi. They’re probably smart to distinguish between the personality and the work, but in all honesty, in Heidegger's case, I’m not sure you can divide between those (really did he believe the Germans are the only decedents of the ancient Greeks...?).

One thing in particular I didn’t like is the number of the victims in the Holocaust depicted in this book, which is not academically proofed.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly clear and creative guide to a very difficult philosopher.

[Ceyxasm · Rating 3 out of 5]

When metaphysics is completed, technology takes over

[Icon Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Heidegger - philosophy's 'hidden king', or leading exponent of a dangerously misguided secular mysticism. Heidegger has been acclaimed as the most powerfully original philosopher of the twentieth century. Profoundly influential on deconstruction, existentialism and phenomenology, he stands behind all major strands of post-structuralist and postmodern thought. Heidegger announced the end of philosophy and of humanism, and was a committed Nazi and vocal supporter of Hitler's National Socialism. Was Heidegger offering a deeply conservative mythology or a crucial deconstruction of philosophy as we have known it? "Introducing Heidegger" provides an accessible introduction to his notoriously abstruse thinking, mapping out its historical contexts and exploring its resonances in ecology, theology, art, architecture, literature and other fields. The book opens up an encounter with a kind of thinking whose outlines might still not yet be clear, and whose forms might still surprise us.

[Plume 5085 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great overview of Heidegger's life and philosophy in under an hour.

[Johannes Duckeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Heidegger book in the Introducing series is honestly amazing. Very thought-provoking, and, as far as I can tell, a good survey of this man’s unusual way of thinking. It is harder to understand and follow than some Introducing books I’ve rated higher than this, but I think that’s a consequence of the subject, not a fault of the author.

I wish there had been a more rigorous use of the German words Heidegger employed to convey his special meanings, and I believe, making a crib sheet while reading this book, noting all the German words and their English translations used in this book would help with understanding the nuances of meaning that are being explored.

My only other minor complaint about this book is that I wish it had dealt more critically with Heidegger’s political past. There are different sections which mention his affiliation to the Nazis and his refusal to renounce his views after 1945, but I think that aspect of his character is not woven into the discussion thoroughly and critically enough.

But I will definitely reread this one, and I hope that some of the insights on being and togetherness will remain fresh in my mind as I have my own existential thoughts.

[Maria Popescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve decided to write reviews for the books that I read, as often as possible, so here goes: this was as hard as expected. I don’t have any background whatsoever in philosophy - except for the once a week one hour classes in the last grade of highschool, that I mostly wore earphones to because I found everything that was being said quite depressing. Regardless, I was able to understand most of what was being explained here but could probably reproduce very little. It was, of course, much easier than actually reading one of Heidegger’s full works. I was not at all bored, but it took more than a week for me to finish it because it does require full concentration. Very interesting. The drawings helped a little too, and I love the style. My background is in drawing so perhaps I’m more able to judge this than how well Heidegger’s ideas were exposed.
I think I’d like to read more of this “Introducing” series, I find it’s done a good job with this book.

[Stark]

Things I learned:
Heidegger was an unrepentant Nazi
I don’t connect with philosophy. It all seems to me to be humans struggling with words they made up and this does not interest me whatsoever. Although maybe it should because I often struggle with abstractions myself. But what I usually do is go back to the proto-indoeuropean roots of those words so I can see what people were originally thinking when they created them. When philosophers seem to think that the existence of certain words means something about the world and not anthropology, I check out. I also don’t understand why “thinking about it” rather than testing hypotheses is a valid way of creating knowledge. Especially if you know nothing about the brain that’s creating the thoughts.
Not to mention, the philosophers’ own language is creating the problems they think about, but they never bother to check if those problems exist in minds shaped by other languages. Which takes us back to point #1 I guess.

[Alastair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introducing Heidegger is, like other books in this graphic guides series, a great primer on Heidegger for those with a background in the German 'philosopher of being'. Similar to the Hegel book I recently read, it expertly interweaves biographical detail into the discussion of the main themes of Heidegger's philosophy. It was particularly appreciated how this 'question of being' that was such a fixation for Heidegger is utilised as almost a story-beat in this book: it helps motivate Heidegger's philosophical moves as well as keeping the reader on track through some of the difficult discussion by always reminding them of this central ontological concern.

That the book doesn't shy away from challenging discussions of Heidegger's links to the Nazis is to its great credit, although like most works on Heidegger it does kind of shrug its shoulders in the final wash and have to say: we want to discuss this interesting philosophy, so can we kind of put this to one side? Another issue is that this book is likely a stretch for the totally unimitated - perhaps rendering a little questionable the notion of this as an 'introduction'. But for the motivated amateur with a little Heidegger or relevant philosophical background, I think this is a great (re)fresher of an extremely controversial thinker.

[Simon Barraclough · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good effort to map out the major concerns and trajectory of Heidegger's thought. I have dipped in and out of Heidegger and expository texts over the years and, to be honest, I'm not much the wiser and not sure if he was a deserved philosopher of note or a nonsensical charlatan. Still, like Lacan, it doesn't seem to matter greatly; their impact on the humanities has been significant. While it, perforce, has to restrict it to 5 or so pages, the details of Heidegger's membership of the Nazi party are admirably hard-hitting and quite stringent.

[Michael Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic introduction into Heidegger. The most interesting part in this book is Heidegger's forays into exploring religion, mysticism, poetry, art, technology and nature. I only thought he wrote about technology, Christian Theologians which he studied and obvious, Being. But his exploration of Being which is discussed in this book reveals a much more interesting look into the breadth of thought from this philosopher.

[CM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another letdown from the series , mostly from the not-so-helpful illustration (the same Heidegger's image is reused so many times that it may be called a print than illustration...)but it did go beyond his magnum opus and follow the development of Heidegger's thoughts. While I am still puzzled by many of his ideas, I start to see how he earned his place in philosophy.

[Tom Spokane · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Look

Introducing Heidegger is just that. The graphic book cast a wide net over Heidegger’s many theories and associations with contemporaries. Interesting was Heidegger’s embracing the Nazi’s and their nationalistic agenda. I recommend this book for those who want a peek at Heidegger’s work.

[Phil Calandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this is an introductory book on the philosophy of Heidegger, I don't believe this book helps in any way in explaining Heidegger's philosophy. This philosophy appears to be beyond explanation. Perhaps one well versed in philosophy and metaphysics may well more appreciate this book. I cannot recommend it.

[Dom Traynor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light 2.25, book centred around Heidegger’s Dasein and Aletheia concepts but neither truly spoke to ‘his being.’

Haven’t read this series before ‘Introducing …’ and wouldn’t turn it down in the future, I just wasn’t engaged with the subject and became increasingly aware that Heidegger’s philosophy isn’t for me.

[Mohamed Bary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as fun as the Nietzche book from the same series. The drawings weren’t comical as nietzches and the blocking of information was more dense and not spread out as smoothly. Overall, it did justice to Heidigger’s work by summarising the gist of his idras.

[Bookfrogglin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction, but it felt like it went more deeply into how influential Heidegger was, glossing over the criticism and some of the contentious aspects there clearly were. It felt a bit unbalanced, but without further reading I'm not sure if that's the case.

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible but not watered down introduction to key concepts in Heidegger. Functions essentially as an illustrated glossary, valuable given how important it is to understand his words to have some hope of understanding him.

[Jeffrey N. Hora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heidegger, despite his controversial life, presents many intriguing possibilities to the question of being and sent sparks throughout 20th and 21th century philosophy and art. This is a decent introduction, albeit not comprehensive in any way. Still, you have to start somewhere....

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handy little book, though it didn't seem particularly clear on Heidegger's later philosophy.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure the late Stephen Hawking had read Heidegger before he came to the conclusion that philosophy is dead.

[Charlie Moll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty easy to “understand” but I feel like I need to read into the texts myself.

[Jigar Brahmbhatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It can get you started but if you are really keen to understand properly, you might want to take help from Hubert Dreyfus or Heidegger's biographer Safranski.