Heidegger and Aristotle

This Element seeks to determine what Heidegger's reading can tell us not only about Aristotle but also about Heidegger whose own thought was in many ways a 'repetition' of Aristotle. The ultimate aim of this Element is to identify the philosophical questions raised by 'Heidegger and Aristotle.'

Since Heidegger's reading of Aristotle covered three decades and presented itself in many courses, seminars, and essays, some still unpublished, one objective here is to provide a much needed and currently unavailable overview of this material. This Element seeks to determine what Heidegger's reading can tell us not only about Aristotle but also about Heidegger whose own thought was in many ways a 'repetition' of Aristotle. However, the ultimate aim is to identify the philosophical questions raised by 'Heidegger and Aristotle' and show how this can help us grapple with them. These questions include the distinctive way of being that defines life, the nature of time and specifically lived time, the nature of being itself and whether it is to be understood as static presence or as something more active, the nature of human action and its relation to production, and the relation between nature and technology.