Basic Questions of Philosophy: Selected Problems of Logic

First published in German in 1984 as volume 45 of Martin Heidegger's collected works, this book is the first English translation of a lecture course he presented at the University of Freiburg in 1937-1938. Heidegger's task here is to reassert the question of the essence of truth, not as a "problem" or as a matter of "logic," but precisely as a genuine philosophical question, in fact the one basic question of philosophy. Thus, this course is about the essence of truth and the essence of philosophy. On both sides Heidegger draws extensively upon the ancient Greeks, on their understanding of truth as aletheia and their determination of the beginning of philosophy as the disposition of wonder. In addition, these lectures were presented at the time that Heidegger was composing his second magnum opus, Beiträge zur Philosophie, and provide the single best introduction to that complex and crucial text.

"Well suited to the task of beckoning the novice onto the path of Heidegger's most arduous thought.... a useful introduction to the thought of one of our most original thinkers." --International Studies in Philosophy Indiana University Press

"A helpful elucidation of the truth as [Heidegger] sees it.... This excellent translation will be of great value to students of Heidegger's thought." --Library Journal Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

In this lecture course, presented in 1937-38, Heidegger's task is to reassert the question of the essence of truth, not as a problem of logic but precisely as the basic question of philosophy.

... well suited to the task of beckoning the novice onto the pathof Heidegger's most arduous thought.... a useful introduction to the thought of oneof our most original thinkers. -- International Studies inPhilosophy

... a helpful elucidation of the truth as Heidegger] sees it.... This excellent translation will be of great value tostudents of Heidegger's thought. -- Library Journal

In thislecture course presented in 1937-38, Heidegger's task is to reassert the question ofthe essence of truth, not as a problem of logic, but precisely as the basic questionof philosophy. These lectures were given at the time that Heidegger was composinghis second magnum opus, Beitr?ge zur Philosophie, and provide the single bestintroduction to that complex and crucial text.

Richard Rojcewicz is Executive Director of the Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center at Duquesne University.

André Schuwer is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Duquesne University and cotranslator (with Richard Rojcewicz) of Parmenides by Martin Heidegger and Ideas II by Edmund Husserl.

Translators' Foreword

Preparatory Part: The Essence of Philosophy and the Question of Truth

Chapter One: Preliminary Interpretation of the Essence of Philosophy

Chapter Two: The Question of Truth as a Basic Question

Main Part: Foundational Issues in the Question of Truth

Chapter One: The Basic Question of the Essence of Truth as a Historical Reflection

Chapter Two: The Question of the Truth (Essentiality) of the Essence

Chapter Three: The Laying of the Ground as the Foundation for Grasping an Essence

Chapter Four: The Necessity of the Question of the Essence of Truth, on the Basis of the Beginning of the History of Truth

Chapter Five: The Need and the Necessity of the First Beginning and the Need and the Necessity of an Other Way to Question and to Begin

Appendices

The Question of Truth

From the First Draft

Editor's Afterword