Martin Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy reflects his famous philosophical "turning." In this work, Heidegger returns to the question of being from its inception in Being and Time to a new questioning of being as event. Heidegger opens up the essential dimensions of his thinking on the historicality of being that underlies all of his later writings. Contributions was composed as a series of private ponderings that were not originally intended for publication. They are nonlinear and radically at odds with the traditional understanding of thinking. This translation presents Heidegger in plain and straightforward terms, allowing surer access to this new turn in Heidegger's conception of being. -- Indiana University Press

Engaging the development of Heidegger's non-public writings on the event between 1936 and 1941, Daniela Vallega-Neu reveals what Heidegger's private writings kept hidden. Vallega-Neu takes readers on a journey through these volumes, which are not philosophical works in the traditional sense as they read more like fragments, collections of notes, reflections, and expositions. In them, Vallega-Neu sees Heidegger searching for a language that does not simply speak about being, but rather allows a sense of being to emerge in his thinking and saying. She focuses on striking shifts in the tone and movement of Heidegger's thinking during these important years. Skillfully navigating the unorthodox and intimate character of these writings, Vallega-Neu provides critical insights into questions of attunement, language, the body, and historicity in Heidegger's thinking.

Engaging the development of Heidegger's non-public writings on the event between 1936 and 1941, Daniela Vallega-Neu reveals what Heidegger's private writings kept hidden. Vallega-Neu takes readers on a journey through these volumes, which are not philosophical works in the traditional sense as they read more like fragments, collections of notes, reflections, and expositions. In them, Vallega-Neu sees Heidegger searching for a language that does not simply speak about being, but rather allows a sense of being to emerge in his thinking and saying. She focuses on striking shifts in the tone and movement of Heidegger's thinking during these important years. Skillfully navigating the unorthodox and intimate character of these writings, Vallega-Neu provides critical insights into questions of attunement, language, the body, and historicity in Heidegger's thinking.

The essays collected in this volume take a new look at the role of language in the thought of Martin Heidegger to reassess its significance for contemporary philosophy. They consider such topics as Heidegger's engagement with the Greeks, expression in language, poetry, the language of art and politics, and the question of truth. Heidegger left his unique stamp on language, giving it its own force and shape, especially with reference to concepts such as Dasein, understanding, and attunement, which have a distinctive place in his philosophy. -- Indiana University Press

Companion to Heidegger s Contributions to Philosophy

Edited by Charles E. Scott, Susan Schoenbohm, Daniela Vallega-Neu, and Alejandro Vallega

A key to unlocking one of Heidegger s most difficult and important works.

The publication of the first English translation of Martin Heidegger s Beitrage zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis) marked a significant event for Heidegger studies. Considered by scholars to be his most important work after Being and Time, Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning) elaborates what Heidegger calls "being-historical-thinking," a project in which he undertakes to reshape what it means both to think and to be. Contributions is an indispensable book for scholars and students of Heidegger, but it is also one of his most difficult because of its aphoristic style and unusual language. In this Companion 14 eminent Heidegger scholars share strategies for reading and understanding this challenging work. Overall approaches for becoming familiar with Heidegger s unique language and thinking are included, along with detailed readings of key sections of the work. Experienced readers and those coming to the text for the first time will find the Companion an invaluable guide to this pivotal text in Heidegger s philosophical corpus.

Contributors include Walter A. Brogan, David Crownfield, Parvis Emad, Gunter Figal, Kenneth Maly, William McNeill, Richard Polt, John Sallis, Susan Schoenbohm, Charles E. Scott, Dennis J. Schmidt, Alejandro Vallega, Daniela Vallega-Neu, and Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann.

Charles E. Scott is Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. He is author of The Question of Ethics, On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethics and Politics (both Indiana University Press), and The Time of Memory.

Susan Schoenbohm has taught philosophy at Vanderbilt University, The University of the South, and Pennsylvania State University. She has published several articles on Heidegger, contemporary Continental thought, ancient Greek thought, and ancient Asian thought.

Daniela Vallega-Neu teaches philosophy at California State University, Stanislaus. She is author of Die Notwendigkeit der Grundung in Zeitalter der Deconstruction.

Alejandro Vallega teaches philosophy at California State University, Stanislaus.

Studies in Continental Thought John Sallis, general editor
July 2001
288 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
cloth 0-253-33946-4 $44.95 L / 34.00
paper 0-253-21465-3 $22.95 s / 17.50
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"For those who want to think rigorously with Heidegger and with the movement of thinking set forth in Contributions, Vallega-Neu s book will prove to be an invaluable guide and resource. One of the great virtues of the book is its impeccable clarity and readability." Peter Warnek

In her concise introduction to Martin Heidegger s second most important work, Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning), Daniela Vallega-Neu provides guidance and structure to readers attempting to navigate this much-discussed but difficult text. Contributions reflects Heidegger s struggle to think at the edge of words and to bring to language what remains beyond the written or the spoken. In view of the centrality of Being and Time to Heidegger interpretation in recent decades, Vallega-Neu introduces Contributions first by reconsidering Being and Time in light of the transformative turn from prepositional thought to the poietic, performative character of thinking and language that marks the passage between the two works. She then discusses each of the "joinings" that structure the composition of Contributions. This graceful introduction provides students and scholars with a much-needed key for unlocking the thinking that underlies Heidegger s later writings."