2/28/22

Heidegger is like Noam Chomsky, in that he should be read regularly in order to refresh your capacity for critical and reflective thought.

This particular edition is translated by Jean T. Wilde and William Kluback, and includes the German (and Greek/Latin/French) original on the left hand side, and the English translation on the right. Without presuming to be competent to judge the quality of the translation, the terminology seems to be generally in line with what I've read elsewhere, though the Greek thaumazein is translated by 'astonishment' rather than the more common (in my readings) 'wonder'.

My other quibble with the translation is that the German title "Was ist das--die Philosophie?" is not adequately translated by "What is philosophy" as the former seeks to explicitly convey a focus on the way the question is framed--i.e., in the Greek manner of "what is that which we call a tree?"

I found footnote 3 in the introduction, which begins "Heidegger's interpretation of Plato and Aristotle implies a misunderstanding of the position of both," to be out of place and even a bit uppity. Without suggesting that Heidegger is beyond criticism (obviously not the case), to throw in a little jab in an otherwise exclusively expository introduction struck me as peevish, disrespectful to Heidegger's endeavour, and even revealing of a fundamental misunderstanding of what Heidegger is up to.

That said, I believe the idea that the "being-moved" that Heidegger analyzes in relation to what the question of "what is philosophy?" does to us has "nothing whatsoever to do with that which is usually called feelings and emotions" (p. 27) is junk. ( )