On Heideggers Being and Time

On Heideggers Being and Time is an outstanding exploration of Heideggers most important work by two major philosophers. Simon Critchley argues that we must see Being and Time as a radicalization of Husserls phenomenology, particularly his theories of intentionality, categorial intuition, and the phenomenological concept of the a priori. This leads to a reappraisal and defense of Heideggers conception of phenomenology.

In contrast, Reiner Schürmann urges us to read Heidegger backward, arguing that his later work is the key to unravelling Being and Time. Through a close reading of Being and Time Schürmann demonstrates that this work is ultimately aporetic because the notion of Being elaborated in his later work is already at play within it. This is the first time that Schürmanns renowned lectures on Heidegger have been published.

The book concludes with Critchleys reinterpretation of the importance of authenticity in Being and Time. Arguing for what he calls an originary inauthenticity, Critchley proposes a relational understanding of the key concepts of the second part of Being and Time: death, conscience and temporality.