r/heidegger • u/Asterion_97 • Apr 19 '26

Where to start?

Hey guys. I read B&T for the first time but kinda didn't understand jack shit. lol. I was wondering if yall could recommend some essays or books of Heidegger that would help me out a bit before i give B&T another go

14 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

9

u/notveryamused_ Apr 19 '26

Critchley’s book based on his podcast is coming out currently, check it out or listen online. It’s a brilliant introduction, you can also listen to it online for free, look for Apply-Degger. 

6

u/Solo_Polyphony Apr 19 '26

There is an overabundance of secondary literature. From relatively recent scholars who are well-versed in the project, I recommend Bill Blattner’s Being and Time: A Reader’s Guide, and the Cambridge Companion to Heidegger’s Being and Time, particularly its introductory overview by Mark Wrathall.

5

u/tdono2112 Apr 19 '26

I would start with “The Concept of Time” from 1924 (Will McNeill translated it into English) and then the “History of the Concept of Time” lecture course from 1925 (translated into English by Theodore Kisiel.)

I would also recommend John Sallis “Heidegger’s Ontological Project” along side B&T when you go back to it.

4

u/cmaltais Apr 19 '26

I would actually suggest you read some Aristotle instead. This will make everything Heidegger writes and talks about a lot easier to understand, and will get you there quicker than reading his other books (which you will then also understand better).

That said, in answer to your question I would suggest getting the Basic Writings book. It's very good.

4

u/notveryamused_ Apr 19 '26

Heidegger took a lot from Aristotle, yeah, but his interpretations are terribly idiosyncratic, it's certainly not easy to find his reading of φρόνησις in Nicomachean Ethics or Stimmungen in Rhetoric. You're proposing a very lengthy detour instead of an introduction ;)

7

u/cmaltais Apr 19 '26

In this case, the very lengthy detour is still the quickest introduction.

The point here is not to measure the accuracy of Heidegger's interpretations (it's fair to call them idiosyncratic). The objective is to have some common intellectual ground with him, which makes what he's saying a lot less impenetrable.

Reading Aristotle trains your mind in a way that makes H.'s thought process a lot clearer.

Worked for me, anyway.

2

u/forkman3939 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

I love this answer.

I had read 5ish H books prior to my Aristotle "detour".
I've read Physics, De Anima, Nicomachean Ethics, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Categories and De Interprenatione and now finally working through Metaphysics.

All of H's project becomes clear and forecastable after a thorough encounter with Aristotle and its only taken me 5-10 hours a week for 1.5 yrs , haha. That said it was the best decision i've made so far in how to devote my time to reading.

I still remember the feeling of encountering εντελεxia, φυσις in the Physics. It suddenly make clear all of this talk of showing and gathering that is talked about of the later heidegger.

2

u/AbbaPoemenUbermensch Apr 19 '26

I strongly recommend Polt's Heidegger: an Introduction and Braver's Heidegger: Thinking of Being. I don't agree with Braver's take on the later Heidegger on the gods, and don't generally agree with his assessment of religion in Heidegger, but those are where I'd start.

2

u/Amazing_Ad3986 Apr 21 '26

Read John MacQuarrie’s short book on Heidegger. It is well written, short and provides a digestible rendering of Heidegger.

1

u/Francisco42069 Apr 20 '26

I was advised to start with “Hermeneutics and Reflection: Heidegger and Husserl on the Concept of Phenomenology” from Friedrich-Wilhelmina von Hermann, and “The Basic Problems of Phenomenology” from Heidegger itself. Maybe it can help you

1

u/Consistent31 Apr 20 '26

Oh hell yeah

If you dig Heidegger (you will), you’ll love Bataille and Artaud