Michael Watts’s The Philosophy of Heidegger, is another contribution into the ever expanding stable of introductory texts dealing with the works of the German philosopher.  Clear evidence, if indeed any more evidence was required, for placing Heidegger, together with perhaps Wittgenstein, as one of the, if not the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th century.

The book can roughly be divided into three parts.  After a brief introductory chapter on Heidegger’s life, chapters two to seven explores some of the main themes and concepts from Heidegger’s magnum opus, Being and Time (BT), first published in 1927.  Chapters seven to eleven concentrate on several issues in Heidegger’s later writings.  The final chapter concludes the book with a look at Heidegger’s now much discussed politics. There is also a very handy glossary of some key Heideggerian terminology.

The first chapter then starts things off with a brief sketch of Heidegger’s life.  Chapters two and three are in a sense the strongest of the book and see Watts at his articulate best.  These pair of chapters, provide a concise and well-structured elucidation of the central themes and concepts of Heidegger’s first major work (BT).  They also provide the reader with a foundation for understanding Heidegger’s general philosophical vision and thus for the reminder of the book.  In particular, chapter two sees Watts introduce to the reader that which is most fundamental to Heidegger’s philosophy; the question of being,   This is the central philosophical question for Heidegger and one which he pursued “relentlessly until death ended his quest” (p.viii). Thus, whilst there is a long history of philosophizing over what something is (being as, entity, thing, object, substance etc.), at no point, Heidegger claims, has there been sufficient attention to how something is in such a way that it can be the being that it is. The history of beings, Heidegger argues, had “forgotten” the more fundamental question of being.  The central reason for this, according to Heidegger, is that the majority of western philosophy has been too focused on epistemology (the theory of knowledge).  In taking up the question of being, part of his goal is to shift this focus, from epistemology to metaphysics.  In so doing, he makes clear that knowing is merely one possible relation one can adopt towards things in the world. Indeed, for Heidegger, this epistemic stance is only taken up sporadically, for the most part, we deal with objects in the world in a non-epistemic manner.

Having given a preliminary overview of  why the question of beeping is so important  for Heidegger, Watts then builds on this by spending the greater part of chapter three on the central themes and concepts of Division I of (BT).  The core of Division I (which this chapter explains), is dedicated to a “fundamental analysis of Dasein”.  Dasein is, very roughly, Heidegger’s word for a human being and it’s special mode of being.  For Heidegger. Dasein is essentially in-the-world and it’s way of being is “care”.  Watts explains how for Heidegger, Dasein is not the detached Cartesian subject of traditional western philosophy, but rather a practical, engaged, and embodied being, who is at home in the world. An overview of the existential structures which underly it’s everyday way of being-in-the-world then follows.  Throughout the chapter, Watts unpacks and clarifys this alternative conception of what it means to be a Dasein and its relationship to the world and others around it.

Chapters four and five is dedicated to themes and ideas of Division II of (BT).  These chapters deal with what we could call the more “existentialist” side of Heidegger.  The focus here being on conscience, guilt, authenticity and Dasein’s Being-towards-death respectively.  These chapters are considerably shorter than the previous, but offer a longer more in depth treatment of each idea.  In chapter four, Watts explains how for Heidegger, conscience and guilt “reveal our authentic self-hood and the basis of freedom” (p. 81).  While chapter five reveals that it is Dasein’s encounter with death which has the potential to most profoundly highlight the question of being.   Has Watts goes on to explain. It’s not death in the sense of our own demise which is of concern for Heidegger but rather, “the attitude one has towards one’s mortality” (98).

Chapter six is dedicated to Heidegger’s somewhat complex notion of temporality.  According to Heidegger, to truly understand the question of being and what it means to be, we have to go beyond Dasein’s various modes of existence and reach the ultimate reference point from which these modes have meaning.  Thus, in BT, one of Heidegger’s fundamental goal is to show that “to be” is “to be temporal”.  The chapter then focuses on explaining how temporality makes up, according to Heidegger’s analysis, the primordial meaning of Dasein’s Being.

In chapter seven, Watts explores Heidegger’s conception of truth and his views on language. For Heidegger, the traditional philosophical conception on truth boils down to a kind of correspondence and yields the “correspondence theory of truth”.  This tradition goes back to Aristotle and sees truth as a relation existing between mind and world, facts and reality.  Heidegger does not completely dismiss the correspondence theory of truth, he does however attempt to “”lay bare” it’s ontological foundations so as to make the “primordial phenomena of truth” visible.  Thus Heidegger, as Watts explains, is not concerned in offering a theory of truth, but rather an analysis of it.  The second half of this chapter concludes by looking at Heidegger’s views on language.

Chapters eight to eleven deal with a handful of themes and ideas from Heidegger’s “latter” work. Chapter eight nicely follows on from the previous chapter, here Watts explores Heidegger’s thoughts on poetry and poets, particularly the German poet Hõlderlin. Chapter nine deals with Heidegger’s perspective on art. These two chapters slot in to each other very nicely and offer a very coherent overview of the notions at hand. 

In chapter ten, Watts centers his attentions on a constant theme of Heidegger’s latter philosophy, his thoughts and general critique of modern technology.  Heidegger intensely disliked modern urban life, which he saw as based on consumerism, shallow values and a blatant disregard for nature.  For Heidegger, modern technology has led to the arrogance of anthropocentric humanism, which diminishes humankind whilst at the same time destroying nature.  These views have led some to suggest that Heidegger was a forerunner of the “deep ecology” movement which explores similar concerns.

In chapter eleven, Watts explores the affinities that Heidegger’s work, particular the latter work, has with eastern thought and philosophy.  In particular, Watts compares some of Heidegger’s thinking to that of East Asian philosophical traditions of Taoism and Zen Buddhism and offers some brief textual comparisons between these.  The chapter concludes with Watts questioning whether Heidegger’s thought could be said to be exclusively Greco-Teutonic in origin, which is generally taken to be the accepted view.

The book concludes with a final obligatory chapter on Heidegger’s much debated political views.  As is well documented, for a brief number of years Heidegger was officially a member Nazi party.  This fact has been a source of endless debate and critical appraisal of Heidegger the man, Heidegger the philosopher and Heidegger’s work itself.  Here Watts merely presents an overview of some of the key themes form this debate.

This book explains Heidegger’s work with admirable clarity and beautiful simplicity, rendering his most difficult ideas, thoroughly accessible and understandable. Throughout the book, Watts displays a deep understanding and an effortless mastery of the text at hand.  All of which, expressed in a thoroughly lucid and engaging way.   One could perhaps quibble that this simplicity and clarity comes at a price.   That is that, throughout the majority of the text, there is a lack of engagement with the secondary literature, or any kind of critical engagement with Heidegger’s work itself.  Nor, does Watts at any time, engage with the wider philosophical debates raised by Heidegger’s often provocative ideas.   That said, this clearly seems to be a deliberate attempt on the part of Watts, whose goal is to make Heidegger’s frustratingly complex, dense, “jargon” ridden prose, as clear and understandable as possible.  For this, he cannot be faulted and indeed, deserves the highest of praise, as he succeeds admirably. Furthermore, what sets this text apart from other introductory texts on Heidegger is that it attempts to provide an overall view of all of Heidegger’s philosophy rather than focusing on certain aspects of it as is the norm these days.

Clearly, without a doubt, this book will be of most benefit for undergraduate philosophy students and any curious lay reader.  Having said that, I also think that, given the scope of the book, postgraduates and other more advanced researchers could potentially also take something from the book.

 

© 2012 Paulo De Jesus

 

About the author.  My name is Paulo De Jesus, I am currently working for an MPhil at King’s College London.  My researc is primarily in the area of philosophy of cognitive science and biosemiotics.