Heidegger and Plato: Toward Dialogue

For Martin Heidegger the "fall" of philosophy into metaphysics begins with Plato. Thus, the relationship between the two philosophers is crucial to an understanding of Heidegger--and, perhaps, even to the whole plausibility of postmodern critiques of metaphysics. It is also, as the essays in this volume attest, highly complex, and possibly founded on a questionable understanding of Plato.

As editors Catalin Partenie and Tom Rockmore remark, a simple way to describe Heidegger's reading of Plato might be to say that what began as an attempt to appropriate Plato (and through him a large portion of Western philosophy) finally ended in an estrangement from both Plato and Western philosophy. The authors of this volume consider Heidegger's thought in relation to Plato before and after the "Kehre" or turn. In doing so, they take up various central issues in Heidegger's Being and Time (1927) and thereafter, and the questions of hermeneutics, truth, and language. The result is a subtle and multifaceted reinterpretation of Heidegger's position in the tradition of philosophy, and of Plato's role in determining that position.

European and North American scholars explore issues raised in 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger's treatment of Plato, more through his appropriation of the ancient Greek's ideas than through his explicit references, which are few. Among the topics are Heidegger's two readings of Antigone, the Platonic concept of truth, and the history of philosophy. No index is provided. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Catalin Partenie is a fellow in the Department of Philosophy, University of Quebec at Montreal. He is editor of Plato: Selected Myths (Oxford, 2004).

Tom Rockmore is professor of philosophy at Duquesne University and the author of many books, most recently Marx after Marxism (Blackwell, 2002). He is also co-editor with Daniel Breazeale of New Essays on Fichte's Later Jena Wissenschaftslehre (Northwestern, 2002).