This course aims to provide some basic ‘tools’ for reading the texts of Martin Heidegger. These are conveyed through the question: ‘how does Heidegger think philosophy should proceed?’ Beginning with Being and Time, I look at the topic of philosophy as Heidegger conceives it, i.e. ‘the question of being’. An examination of the aporias that attend to this topic, along with Heidegger’s responses, will shed light on the following questions – ‘who is Dasein?’, ‘what is wrong with metaphysics and the age of technology?’, ‘why read the history of philosophy?’ Particular attention will be given to the role of ‘deconstructive retrieve’ in Heidegger’s ‘way’ of thinking.
prior reading:
"Introduction" to Martin Heidegger Being and Time
John Sallis "Where does Being and Time start?" (available from the Recent European Philosophy reading box in the Philosophy Department at the University of Melbourne, Old Law Quad)