Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Heidegger and Being and Time

by Stephen Mulhall

Heidegger is one of the most controversial thinkers of the twentieth century. A difficult and powerful philosopher, his work requires careful reading. Being and Time was his first major book and remains his most influential work.
Heidegger and Being and Time introduces and assesses: Heidegger's life and the background of Being and Time ; the ideas and text of Being and Time ; Heidegger's importance to philosophy and to the intellectual life of this century.
Ideal for anyone coming to Heidegger for the first time, this guide will be vital for all students of Heidegger in philosophy and cultural theory.

Genres: Philosophy

214 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 1996

Reviews

[Campbell Rider]

reading the being and time sparknotes so the heideggerians at school will stop bullying me in the lunchroom

[Stephen Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent breakdown of Heidegger, but suffers from some weird speculation about the concept of conscience and the mid-90s fad of using feminine pronouns for everything. Could have been twice as good without them.

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was on my reading list, set by Stephen Mulhall, for one-to-one tutorials with Stephen Mulhall. Insane. I still cannot believe that I got to learn from someone who is literally an expert on Heidegger's Being and Time.

Mulhall is a very eloquent and clear writer. It was a great relief to be able to turn to this book of his after making painfully slow progress through Heidegger's passages. He explains stuff well, just as he did during our tutorials.

I didn't read this book to start to finish, but I have spent a good many hours for the past four weeks wading through this text.

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having not read Heideggerian Being and Time yet, but studying Levinas and Derrida for my Phd, and having worked around other continental philosophers who are influenced by him this was an excellent book to give me a broader and deeper appreciation of the more prominent aspects of Heidegger's work. Mulhall makes his work accessible and leaves you feeling more prepared to confront Heidegger's texts from a more informed position.

[Jack Shipley]

This is an excellent and accessible guide for Heidegger's notoriously difficult book. Although Mulhall could have expanded on some ideas at times, I still recommend this section-by-section walkthrough as accompanying literature for your Being and Time adventure.

[Elaine]

chapter 1--division I of being and time

[Ben Lawton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm ANGER!!!!!!!!!!

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo worthwhile for Mulhall’s own insights and exploration of Heidegger himself - chapter 6 with the excursion on Kierkegaard and the analysis of Heidegger’s anxiety of influence was especially brilliant.

[MM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide to Being and Time. Mulhall breaks down Heidegger in a way that is very intuitive and clear, but rather than merely explaining Heidegger's terms in a simplistic manner, he also answers questions that would pop up in any reader's mind. His writings style is compact but retains a very charming sort of dynamism. I would recommend a person read this alongside (or right after) Being and Time. (I tested reading one of Mulhall's chapters without having read the corresponding section in Being & Time, and it is muchhh more difficult to understand.)

[Luke Echo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adequate introductory commentary, but the speculative sections where Mulhall introduces more radical interpretations, seem out of place in an "introduction" like this. Also, I felt it could have stayed closer to the text itself, as some of the other books in this Routledge series tend to do.

I might have a look at Theodore Kisiel's The Genesis of Heidegger's Being and Time which someone else has recommended.

[Cheng Wen Cheong · Rating 3 out of 5]

My suggestion is to read along with the text itself, especially for last chapters on historicity and temporality. It is difficult to read the guide on its own, just like how it is difficult to read the work itself.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book through first after starting "Being and Time" is helpful. Mulhall is doing well in accentuating my struggles to keep Heidegger's voluminous set of terms well organized.