The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays

"ToreadHeideggeristosetoutonanadventure.Theessaysinthisvolume--intriguing,challenging,andoftenbafflingtothereader--callhimalwaystoabandonallsuperficialscanningandtoenterwholeheartedlyintotheseriouspursuitofthinking...."Heideggerisnota'primitive'ora'romanitic.'Heisnotonewhoseeksescapefromtheburdensandresponsibilitiesofcontemporarylifeintoserenity,eitherthroughthere-creatingofsomeidyllicpastorthroughtheexaltingofsomesimpleexperience.Finally,Heideggerisnotafoeoftechnologyandscience.Heneitherdisdainsnorrejectsthemasthoughtheywereonlydestructiveofhumanlife."TherootsofHeidegger'shinkingliedeepintheWesternphilosophicaltradition.Yetthatthinkingisuniqueinmanyofitsaspects,initslanguage,andinitsleteraryexpression.InthedevelopmentofthisthoughtHeideggerhasbeentaughtchieflybytheGreeks,byGermanidealism,byphenomenology,andbythescholastictheologicaltradition.Inhimtheseandotherelementshavebeenfusedbyhisgeniusofsensitivityandintellectintoaveryindividualphilosophicalexpression."--WilliamLovitt,fromtheIntroduction