"This book, one of the most frequently cited works on Martin Heidegger in any language, belongs on any short list of classic studies of Continental philosophy. William J. Richardson explores the famous turn (Kehre) in Heidegger's thought after Being in Time and demonstrates how this transformation was radical without amounting to a simple contradiction of his earlier views." "In a full account of the evolution of Heidegger's work as a whole, Richardson provides a detailed, systematic, and illuminating account of both divergences and fundamental continuities in Heidegger's philosophy, especially in light of recently published works. He demonstrates that the "thinking" of Being for the later Heidegger has exactly the same configuration as the radical phenomenology of the early Heidegger, once he has passed through the "turning" of his way." Including as a preface the letter that Heidegger wrote to Richardson and a new writer's preface and epilogue, the new edition of this valuable guide will be an essential resource for students and scholars for many years to come.

In 1956 Jacques Lacan proposed an interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe's "Purloined Letter" that at once challenged literary theorists and revealed a radical new concept of psychoanalysis. Lacan's far reaching claims about language and truth provoked a vigorous critique by Jacques Derrida, whose essay in turn spawned further responses from other writers. "The Purloined Poe" brings Poe's story together with these readings to provide a structured exercise in the elaboration of text interpretation.