Being and Time: A Revised Edition of the Stambaugh Translation (SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy)

It is difficult to think of a modern philosopher who wrote as profoundly and originally as Heidegger. In my view Heidegger is the greatest philosopher since Kant, although Nietsche-ites and Wittgenstinians would no doubt disagree. "Being and Time", as anyone who knows anything about philosophy should know, is his magnum opus. He wrote many other works in his long career (mostly lecture transcriptions), but they can all without exception be traced back to concepts originally set out in Being and Time. Despite that and rather strangley, Being and Time is not the place to start a study of Heidegger. His writing is so idiosyncratic that you really must get used to his language first before diving in to this huge work - otherwise you are likely to give up within the first 100 pages, which is unforgiveable. Start instead with the useful "Introducing Heidegger" (ISBN: 1840460881) or the well-written "Heidegger: a beginner's guide" (ISBN: 034080324X). Then progress to the excellent collection of Heidegger's writings in "Basic Writings" (ISBN: 0415101611). Only then would I recommend diving into Being and Time. So what is the significance of Being and Time? To me, its importance lies in its questioning of the premises which the rest of philosophy since Plato has taken for granted. What is the nature of human existence? What does it mean to 'be'? But not only does Heidegger ask these questions, but he provides highly original answers too. And bizarrely - although his language is abstruse and difficult - what he has to say fits remarkably well with common sense. We do not exist as isolated, abstract 'individuals' prior to our introduction to society. Instead we exist as beings situated in a societal context, with hopes, aspirations, regrets and relationships with other people and things. Over the course of 250 or so dense pages, Heidegger systematically deconstructs (yes, he invited deconstruction long before Derrida) the concept of what it is to be an individual that has lain beneath 2000 years of philosophizing, including Descarte's 'cogito ergo sum' principle which provided the foundation for Enlightenment ontology. Then, in the last 150 pages he moves on to the concept of time, again demolishing accepted views in order to gain a more 'primordial' understanding of what it means to be a human being living through a series of 'Moments'. As the blurb to this book says, Being and Time has had a huge influence on fields well beyond philosophy. In particular, his ideas about what it means to live 'authentically' have provided rich pickings for psychology. Discerning readers will also notice resonances with some Eastern philosophical traditions (Taoism and Buddhism in particular), and this particularly interesting line of analysis has been pursued in a number of recent books (see ISBN: 1565181190 and ISBN: 0415140382). In summary - make time for this towering work. You are unlikely to ever read a more profound piece of extended philosophical writing.

The most profound exploration of 'Dasein' you could possibly read. As a lifelong existentialist I have come late to this book , but am so glad to have found it aged 65. Patient reading is required , and rewarded by understanding and elation. I am on my third or fourth reading now and it gets easier to absorb every time.

This book is filled with ideas that are complex and slightly difficult to read, so if you plan to read it in one evening then you may be slightly disappointed. Unless you're Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking could do it.

Martin Heidegger is well known for being both controversial and complex, and his magnum opus, Being and Time, is widely recognised as being one of the most difficult philosophical texts to read. Now, I don’t know if I`m missing the point or its complexity has just washed straight over me, but I found that this translation was nowhere near as difficult to read as I had been led to expect. Although Heideggerian concepts are entirely unfamiliar to anyone who has not read his work before, I don’t think he does a bad job of explaining himself -even if only in the most basic way- and the glossary of Heideggerian lexicon at the back of this addition comes in handy. I will say that having read many works by the Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset (who is often compared with Heidegger) may have familiarized me with some of the main concepts in Heideggerian philosophy, so I`d recommend that anyone looking at Heidegger takes the time to read Ortega as well. It also goes without saying that having an introductory text to Heidegger (there are some free ones for anyone subscribed to Amazon Prime) close by will certainly come in useful. Overall, however, I don’t think that understanding Heidegger`s philosophy is any more difficult than getting to know any other discipline or subject one has no prior familiarity with and, despite the controversy that surrounds him, I think his philosophy has a lot to offer us in the present. In addition to being a good translation, the cover is lovely (even though I can’t read the poem) and the overall presentation and quality of the book are good. Highly recommendable in my opinion.

The approach in this translation of a notoriously difficult and transcendental book is all round top tier. A lengthy introduction and notes on specific German words work as partial tuition to Heideggers profound philosophy. Aesthetically the volume is pleasing to the eye, glossy, eye catching and a unique size, suitable for posing in coffee shops to impress any naive prospective love interest.

I have to admit I struggled with this one. I'm researching teh topic of Nihilism for a novel I'm working on, and the meaning of Being is a fantastic kicking off point, but unless you're a serious philosophy scholar (I'm casual at best) it may be worth researching around the original text, because Heidegger is a long way from being accessible. There were points here where I felt like my brain was eating itself and that my own Being was in some danger. So anyway, I ended up pulling 'The Philosophy of Heidegger' by Michael Watts out of the British Library, and that gave me exactly what I needed, and that or similar may be the easier option for the faint of heart such as myself.

Heidegger's thought is encountered more and more nowadays, making the need for this translation greater. The Maquarrie & Robinson one was the standard work for years, but as a non German speaker I find this significantly easier to get through. So does my tutor!

Like all Heidegger's works, difficult but repays effort. Proves, somewhat disturbingly (?), that you can be a (sort-o) Nazi and yet also a great philosopher at the same time.

Really even to know what some other people are talking about you should read this. If you liked Doctor Who when it was philosophical, before the 90s. Hint you will get the name better on Being in and Stuff....Ch 5. Paragraph 2. I got this copy for my God Daughter, my copy is out of print and it is a fabulous book. Many are, but no book shelf is complete without this. I'll let you decide on the merits of the philosophy when you read it.

There is nothing to dislike. It's an amazing book

Awesome read

Édité par Amazon... Le texte de la couverture est flou

In 1996 I bought the John Macquarrie translation of 'Being and Time' by Martin Heidegger and have read it 76 times over the past 20 years. I bought the Joan Stambaugh translation because she translates the greek symbols into english for a better understanding of Heidegger. Back to the conversation. In the beginning I was reading 'Being and Time' as if it was a book and had an author (subject/object thinking). Somewhere around the 70th reading it came to me that there was no book, no printing on the page, and no author. There is no 'subject' (me) or 'object' (the book). The only thing present was me be-ing the conversation that I was already engaged in. Martin Heidegger did a masterful job of laying out the conversation so I didn't miss anything. Be-ing the conversation has allowed me to strip away enough presuppositions forced on me by the entanglement of the world (Heidegger calls it falling) and begin to recognize my own 'thinking'. In 'Being and Time' Heidegger mentions that there is discovering (un-covering) and covering (Covering Your A__ (CYA). 'Falling' into the world's entanglement is how we deny accountability, hide in the crowd, and choose mediocrity (the status quo). By participating in the conversation (reading 'Being and Time') multiple times over 20 years I have 'distanced' myself from the world's entanglement and 4 months after my 70th birthday I'm actually beginning to get a sense of who I am. If you're getting a sense of what I'm talking about then buy the book and engage in your own conversation. In 1996 I typed out the 387-page 'Being and Time', imported it into a Nook e-reader and read 'Being and Time' 76 times over 20 years. I suggest you do the same. However, I implore you to get a Kindle. The Kindle store has numerous books by Heidegger which you can download including 'Being and Time'. Because the Stambaugh translation does a better job of translating 'Being and Time' I would like to download it to my Kindle Oasis without having to type the book. However, the Stambaugh translation isn't available for Kindle yet. If you're reading this you are on the product page for the book. Could you scroll up (or down) to "Product Details" (on the left side of the page) and then look over to the right side of the page and find "Tell the Publisher!" and click on "I'd like to read this book on Kindle". Maybe, together we can make this happen