(1889-1976) German existentialist; almost an atheist who is concerned with
ontology; wrote 1.
Existence and Being, 2.
Was ist Metaphysik?, 3.
Being and Time, 4.
über den Humanismus, and 5.
An Introduction to Metaphysics. The fundamental question is "What is the meaning of Being?"
Initially, Heidegger was interested in
phenomenologicalanalysis of the Dasein (human existence); later he realized that Being is prior to
Dasein and reveals itself in the
Dasein as an "irruption" of truth (i.e., the meaning of all there is). The Dasein (human "being-in-the-world") is characterized as a field of relations rather than as an entity alongside of or among other things. It is characteristically "fallen" or estranged (
Verfallenheit), the overcoming of which recovers "truth." Man does not create his world (i.e., give it meaning); rather "it is Being that creates for itself the ear destined to hear and the words that carry its revelation." But Being is not God in the traditional theistic sense. Heidegger uses the etymology of the Greek
aletheia (truth) as "the hidden being which reveals itself." Existential truth is "openness" to existence rather than the intellectual grasp of an idea. A man does not "know the truth," he exists "in the truth."