Zollikoner Seminare Book

Long awaited and eagerly anticipated, this remarkable volume allows English-speaking readers to take part in an encounter between the German philosopher Martin Heidegger and the Swiss psychiatrist Medard Boss. A product of their long friendship, Zollikon Seminars chronicles an extraordinary exchange of ideas. Heidegger sought to transcend the bounds of philosophy while Boss and his colleagues in the scientific community sought an enduring intellectual foundation for better understanding their patients and their world. The work affords a unique opportunity to see how Heidegger clarified and elaborated his central themes for an audience beyond the confines of philosophy—and to see how this audience inspired him to pursue new ideas and new directions. During World War II, Boss came upon Heideggers Being and Time. Intrigued by both author and book yet conscious of the damning characterization of Heidegger as a Nazi sympathizer, Boss the physician nonetheless approached Heidegger the philosopher asking for help in reflective thinking on the nature of Heidegger's thought. A correspondence ensued, followed by visits that soon became annual two-week meetings in Boss's home in Zollikon, Switzerland. The protocols from these seminars, recorded by Boss and reviewed, corrected, and supplemented by Heidegger himself, make up one part of this volume. They are augmented by Boss's record of the conversations he had with Heidegger in the days between seminars and by excerpts from the more than 250 letters that Heidegger wrote to Boss between 1947 and 1971. Zollikon Seminars offers many unique features to those interested in Heidegger: For the first time, Heidegger attempts to make the fundamental ideas of his philosophy accessible to nonphilosophers Heidegger addresses certain philosophical/psychological theories for the first and only time, including Freudian psychoanalysis, the lived-body, Binswanger and Boss's forms of Dasein (existential) psychoanalysis, and Indian philosophy The lectures, correspondence, and conversations span twenty-five years, offering an ongoing view of Heidegger's career and philosophical development A richly detailed picture of one of the century's great philosophers engaged at length and in depth by the immediate problems of human understanding, Zollikon Seminars is. the best and clearest introduction to Heidegger's philosophy available. It will appealto students and scholars in philosophy, psychology, and the sciences, as well as the interested nonspecialist. About the Authors: Martin Heidegger(1889-1976) is one of the giants of twentieth-century philosophy. Among his many works are Sein and Zeit 1(Being and Time) (1927) and Was ist Metaphysik? ( What Is Metaphysics?) (1929). Franz K. Mayr is a professor of philosophy at the University of Portland. He has authored five books including Geschichte der Philosophie (Butzon and Bercker,1966), El Matriarcalismo Vasco: Reinterpretacion de la culture vasca (with A. Ortiz-Oses) (Deusto, 1980), and La Mitologia Occidental (Anthropos,1989). Richard R. Askay is a professor of philosophy at the University of Portland. He has published journal articles on Heidegger's philosophy, Freudian psychoanalysis, French phenomenology, and critical thinking, and is coauthor (with Jensen Farquhar) of Apprehending the Inaccessible.