Heidegger's Nietzsche - by José Daniel Parra (Paperback)

About the Book

This text explores Martin Heidegger's thinking in response to Nietzsche's philosophy: beginning with the problem of European nihilism, moving toward a period of transition situated in-between classical and post-Cartesian ontology.

Book Synopsis

Heidegger´s Nietzsche: European Modernity and the Philosophy of the Future offers a study of two key figures in the history of philosophy. By way of a textual interpretation of Martin Heidegger's reading of Friedrich Nietzsche, it draws renewed attention to the question of ontology in the history of Western thought. The discussion unfolds in the context of an epochal period of transition in European culture that in Heidegger's interpretation of Nietzsche is in the process of "fulfillment." The book examines the sources of this transformative event, with special emphasis on the contrast between the modern predominance of Cartesian inter-subjectivity and a manner of thought that dwells in the philosophical anthropology of classical Greek culture. It partakes in the Platonic-Aristotelian tradition of studying the life of the mind from architectonic perspectives, highlighting the key comparative importance of philosophical "vision," in tandem with the voice of conscience. In that spirit, the book explores an encounter between Heidegger and Nietzsche at the interstice between hermeneutics and a therapeutic consideration of philosophy.

Review Quotes

"[T]he analysis of the Heideggerian/Nietzschean dialogue and dialectic is conceptually sure-footed and a useful addition to the literature." --The Review of Politics

""This is a remarkable book. Under the guidance of José Daniel Parra's careful and penetrating analysis of Heidegger's confrontation with Nietzsche's texts, the reader is brought into a rich, complex, and absorbing dialogue between two of the most important thinkers of the modern age, while also revisiting with fresh eyes the history of metaphysical philosophy ranging from Plato, Descartes, Kant, and Hegel. Anyone who wants to understand the genesis, meaning, and continuing relevance of the concept of nihilism in our time simply must consult Parra's majestic rendering of the intellectual and philosophical architecture of the postmodern mind."" --Lee Ward

""This book has the rare quality of being both comprehensive and path breaking. From its initial treatment of major twentieth- and twenty-first-century scholarly literature on the Nietzsche-Heidegger relation, it follows both Nietzsche and Heidegger's lead, in that, like Nietzsche and Heidegger, this too is a kind of 'thought experiment' at the nexus of hermeneutics and political philosophy, which, in the author's words, 'bring[s] to our attention a "spiritual crisis" of epic proportions.'"" --Tom Darby, Carleton University

About the Author

José Daniel Parra is lecturer and research associate in government and international relations at Universidad Externado de Colombia.