The essence of truth Book

This is a splendid translation of two of Heidegger's exegetical lectures on Plato. It follows his characteristic style of philological methods for pursing epistemology. In these two lectures, he seeks a deeper understanding of what truth is. The first begins by pondering the curious nature of how truth is portrayed in ancient Greek. The usual word for truth, ἀλήθεια, is curiously a linguistically negative term. It is more accurately translated as "unhiddenness." Considering this oddity, Heidegger embarks on a thorough reinterpretation of Plato's allegory of the cave. The second lecture focuses on a section of Plato's Theaetetus to inquire into the nature of untruth (or, in Greek, ψεῦδος, which bears no linguistic relation to ἀλήθεια).

Heidegger's ideas are tremendously insightful, though complex and, at times, difficult to comprehend. Understanding these arguments is aided by the clarity of this translation, thanks to the painstaking efforts of the translator, Ted Sadler. Knowing ancient Greek is not really required to read this in full. However, Heidegger refers to many ancient Greek terms constantly and, despite Sadler's helpful addition of a glossary for these and other German terms, it may be difficult to keep up with for some. Nevertheless, it is an excellent book to read, especially at a time that is so often proclaimed to be the "post-truth" era. Most of all, it reminds us that there is not merely a simple binary relationship between truth and falsity. Rather, there are frequently many shades of grey between the two or, at times, no relation between them at all.