The Essence of Truth: On Plato's Parable of the Cave and the Theaetetus (Continuum Impacts)
Over the past decade, an abundant number of Heidegger's writings  have been translated into English. Key among them are the  lectures he delivered both prior to and following the writing of  his magnum opus, Being and Time, which allow us as never before  to chart Heidegger's philosophical development. Here are two new  additions to the series. The Essence of Human Freedom, which  derives from a set of lectures Heidegger delivered in 1930 at  Freiburg, focuses on human freedom as the leading question of  philosophy. Heidegger contends that this emphasis on freedom  enables us to understand philosophy as a "going-after-the-whole"  that is at the same time a "going-to-our-roots." In other words,  we must search for the essence of human freedom in the constant  presence of being-in-the-world that precedes and grounds  philosophical thinking. Heidegger plunders Kant's understandings  of freedom and Aristotle's theories of metaphysics to establish  his own theory that the understanding of human freedom provides  the starting point for philosophy (metaphysics).   One year later, Heidegger turned his gaze on the essence of  truth. In a lecture course delivered at Freiburg in 1931-32, he  engaged in a close philosophical reading of Plato's "Allegory of  the Cave" and a section from Plato's Theaetetus. In Plato's  allegory, men are shackled and can only see the shadows cast on  the cave's wall by a fire. These shadows are their reality. But  when one of them escapes into the sunlight, he sees that the  shadows are not reality but illusion. For Heidegger, this  man-who in Plato's story becomes the model for a philosopher-has  had the truth revealed to him. Truth cannot be possessed merely  as correct propositions, as Heidegger argues that the history of  philosophy has taught. Rather, he contends, "the question of the  essence of truth as unhiddenness is the question of the history  of human essence." A shorter essay that derives from this  lecture can be found in both Basic Writings and in Existence and  Being. These new volumes reveal Heidegger's consummate  exegetical and hermeneutical skills, but given their technical  philosophical jargon, they are recommended only for academic or  large public libraries.Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Lancaster, PACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.