Heidegger and Dao - (Daoism and the Human Experience) by Eric S Nelson

Book Synopsis

In this innovative contribution, Eric S. Nelson offers a contextualized and systematic exploration of the Chinese sources and German language interpretations that shaped Heidegger's engagement with Daoism and his thinking of the thing, nothingness, and the freedom of releasement (Gelassenheit). Encompassing forgotten and recently published historical sources, including Heidegger's Daoist and Buddhist-related reflections in his lectures and notebooks, Nelson presents a critical intercultural reinterpretation of Heidegger's philosophical journey.

Nelson analyzes the intersections and differences between the Daodejing, the Zhuangzi, and Heidegger's philosophy and the linguistic and conceptual shifts in Heidegger's thinking that correlate with his encounters and interactions with Daoist, Buddhist, and East Asian texts and interlocutors. He thereby traces hints for encountering things and environments anew, models for intercultural hermeneutics, and ways of reimagining the thing, nothingness, and freedom with and beyond Heidegger's thought.

This work elucidates the thing, the mystery, and freedom in Heidegger and Daoism in Part I and Heidegger's thinking of nothingness, emptiness, and the clearing in relation to Daoist and Buddhist philosophy in Part II. In each part, Nelson unfolds a fresh perspective for thinking further with Heidegger and East Asian philosophies in relation to the contemporary existential and environmental situation for the sake of nourishing life amidst damaged life.

Review Quotes

In this exciting new study, Nelson provides compelling insights and arguments for a new understanding of some of the most difficult concepts of both Western and non-Western philosophy: world, thing, and nothing. Nelson's ziranist approach should be compulsory study material for all interested in Heidegger, Daoism, Buddhism and their intersections.
Steven Burik, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Singapore Management University, Singapore

Nelson contributes valuable new insights not only into the meaning of the Dao and Buddhism and their relation to Heidegger's conception of being as emptiness and nothingness, but also into what these three philosophies share, despite originating independently worlds apart, in regard to an ethically and spiritually satisfying way of life. There are very few philosophers, even now, even today, capable of engaging the Dao, Buddhism and Heidegger's phenomenology so deeply, comprehensively and with so much scholarly erudition.
David Michael Kleinberg-Levin, Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, Northwestern University, USA

This remarkable book explores the interconnections between Heidegger's and Daoist philosophies. The critical reexamination of Heidegger's interactions with Daoist sources offers invaluable insights into alternative modes of attunement and dwelling, addressing contemporary ecological and social crises. An essential read for anyone interested in philosophy, ecology, or social justice.
Jana S. Rosker, Professor of Chinese Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

About the Author

Eric S. Nelson is Professor of Philosophy at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong. His authored books include Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought (Bloomsbury 2017) and other works.