The Essence of Truth: On Plato's Cave Allegory and Theaetetus (Athlone Contemporary European Thinkers)

One of Heidegger's most important works, this text gives a thorough explanation of what is arguably the most fundamental and abiding theme of his philosophy, namely the difference between truth as the "unhiddenness of beings" and truth as the "correctness of propositions". For Heidegger, it was by neglecting the former primordial concept of truth in favour of the latter derivative concept that Western philosophy, beginning with Plato himself, took off on its "metaphysical" course towards the bankruptcy of the present day. This book consists of a lecture course delivered by Heidegger at the University of Freiburg in 1931-32. The first part is a detailed analysis of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in "The Republic", while the second part gives an exegesis and interpretation of a central section of Plato's "Theaetetus". As always with Heidegger's writings on the Greeks, the point of his interpretative method is to bring to light the original meaning of philosophical concepts, especially to free up these concepts to their intrinsic power. Unhiddenness and Being; the Question Concerning the Essence of Untruth -- An Interpretation of Plato's Theaetetus with Respect to the Question of the Essence of Untruth -- Preliminary Considerations -- The Question Concerning the Essence of [characters not reproducible]: Man's Attack on the Self-evidences of His Self-understanding -- Fundamental Content of the Greek Concept of Knowledge: Fusion of Know-how and Seeing Having-Present of That Which Is Present -- Beginning of the Discussion of Theaetetus' First Answer: [characters not reproducible] Is [characters not reproducible]. Critical Demarcation of the Essence of Perception -- A[characters not reproducible] as [characters not reproducible]. The Self-showing in Its Presencing -- The Senses: Only Passage-way, Not Themselves What Perceives in Human Perception -- The Soul as the Relationship that Unifies the Perceivable and Holds It Open -- Colour and Sound: Both Perceived at Once in [characters not reproducible] -- Stepwise Unfolding of Perceiving in All Its Connections -- Step One: Perceiving of Beings as Such -- A Strange 'Excess' in the Perceived over and above the Sensory Given: 'Being' and Other Characters as the Necessary but Unnoticed Co-perceived -- Step Two: Inquiry into What Perceives the Excess in the Perceived -- The Sense-Organs: No Passage-way to the Common in Everything Perceived -- The Soul as What Views the [characters not reproducible] in [characters not reproducible] -- Step Three: The Soul's Relation to Being as Striving for Being Taken from a lecture course delivered by Heidegger at the University of Freiburg in 1931-32, this book presents the German philosopher's views on the problem of human freedom, the meaning of freedom and being as reflected in Greek philosophy, Kant's treatment of freedom and causality, and other concerns central to Heidegger's thought Martin Heidegger ; Translated By Ted Sadler. Includes Bibliographical References.