Wittgenstein and Heidegger

David Egan, Stephen Reynolds, Aaron Wendland

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134108299
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger are arguably the two most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Their work not only reshaped the philosophical landscape, but also left its mark on other disciplines, including political science, theology, anthropology, ecology, mathematics, cultural studies, literary theory, and architecture.

Both sought to challenge the assumptions governing the traditions they inherited, to question the very terms in which philosophy's problems had been posed, and to open up new avenues of thought for thinkers of all stripes. And despite considerable differences in style and in the traditions they inherited, the similarities between Wittgenstein and Heidegger are striking.

Comparative work of these thinkers has only increased in recent decades, but no collection has yet explored the various ways in which Wittgenstein and Heidegger can be drawn into dialogue. As such, these essays stage genuine dialogues, with aspects of Wittgenstein's elucidations answering or problematizing aspects of Heidegger's, and vice versa. The result is a broad-ranging collection of essays that provides a series of openings and provocations that will serve as a reference point for future work that draws on the writings of these two philosophers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• List of Contributors
• 1 General Introduction
• 2 The Meaning of Being and the Possibility of Discourse: Heidegger and Wittgenstein Converse
• 3 Wittgenstein and Heidegger and the “Face” of Life in Our Time
• 4 The Provocation to Look and See: Appropriation, Recollection, and Formal Indication
• 5 The Authenticity of the Ordinary
• 6 Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and the Question of Phenomenology
• 7 Understanding the Being of the “We”: Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Idealism
• 8 Heidegger and Wittgenstein on External World Skepticism
• 9 What Science Leaves Unsaid
• 10 Disintegrating Bugbears: Heidegger and Wittgenstein on Basic Laws of Thought
• 11 Understanding as a Finite Ability
• 12 Human Activity as Indeterminate Social Event
• 13 Heidegger’s Religious Picture
• 14 Words as Works of Art
• 15 Wittgenstein and Heidegger as Romantic Modernists
• 16 Dwelling on Rough Ground: Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Architecture
• Bibliography
• Index