If you look back to section 8 of Introduction II, Heidegger proposed to write two parts to Being and Time, each containing three “divisions”, but only completed Division One and Division Two of Part One (with Division Two being rushed).

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Welcome to the wonderful and terrifying world of 19th century Europe.

This was a world in which the horrors of mass industrialization led to violent and widespread revolts in 1848, a world in which Beethoven wrote the Ninth Symphony, and in which Italy and Germany became the unified nations we know them as today.

This was the world that Friedrich Nietzsche was born into, and also the world that he died in (1844-1900).

Nietzsche’s life was completely contained by the 19th century, and he understood the significance of his own age perhaps more deeply than anyone.

Nietzsche’s philosophy is an embodiment of his historical self-awareness and it serves as both a warning to future humans, as well as a reason for hope.

What he has handed down to us is not only relevant to contemporary life, but urgent.

Nietzsche believed that the future of humanity, the human spirit, and everything that gives our lives meaning is being fundamentally threatened in the modern world.

If you agree…

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I am incredibly excited because by the end of this week, you will all have achieved something very impressive.

Making it through the introductions to Being and Time is a major intellectual achievement.

Congrats!

You should also, at this point, start to have a better idea of what Heidegger is proposing to do in the work and why it matters not just to the history of philosophy, but to humanity.

These difficult sections contain Heidegger’s revolutionary remarks about “phenomenology” and “hermeneutics”, and help us understand the method through which Heidegger will carry out his investigation.

Every philosopher has a method, and Heidegger’s is incredibly fascinating.

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If you want to check in with yourself and see how you are understanding the work, I recommend reading section 8 very slowly and seeing if you can understand what he is saying there.

Section 8 contains an incredible condensed summary of everything we have been discussing so far and serves as a kind of “test’ …

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If you were interested in reading the entire text with me, on April 18th I am launching a complete beginner’s course on Beyond Good & Evil right here on Substack.

You can learn more about it here.

Additionally, has invited me to deliver a “how to read philosophy” workshop at the end of April. If you wanted to learn more about Robin’s work and the workshop, you can visit A Mug Of Insights.

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Thanks for a great chat last week on sections 4 & 5.

The recording from last week is posted in the paid subscribers chat.

This week we will move confidently into Heidegger’s Introduction II to Being and Time.

This is his “methodological introduction”.

We should expect to learn more about how he plans to investigate the Seinsfrage — the question of the meaning of being.

The answer is through history and phenomenology.

Suggested Reading

• Being and Time, Introduction II, sections 6-7A

Notes

Section 5 (The Analysis Of Dasein)

This section was especially difficult, so I want to take a second pass at it with a few notes before moving on to the second introduction and sections 6 & 7.

• In order to avoid a kind of dogmatic statement as to what constitutes the meaning of Dasein, the existential analytic must begin from an account of Dasein in its “average everydayness”.

• “Everydayness” does not have any pejorative connotation -- it is merely descriptive.

  • It means that uncritical mode …

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Thanks for a great discussion last week.

Week 2 Recording Here

As some of you have heard, immediately after our meeting, I got a phone call requesting that I make an emergency trip to New Hampshire to see my mother. As I was leaving my apartment, I discovered that she passed away.

I have been spending the past few days with my family healing, bonding, and grieving. It has been an incredibly challenging and profound experience for all of us.

In her last words to me, shared in private letters, my mom expressed that she wants me to use my writing and mind to impact lives, so here I am.

I truly appreciate all of the patience, understanding, and support you have given me. You’re all so awesome and discussing philosophy with you is an incredible privilege, so thank you.

One request I have, given the circumstances, is to move our meeting to Saturday this week at 12pm EST.

I hope this time works for everyone.

Link For Google Meet

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I wanted to share with you a short guide to help you prepare for our next session.

What you will find below is the selected reading for our next session, some general notes on the selected readings, and some key terms you will encounter in the reading (including ontical vs ontological).

Selected Reading:

• Untitled first page

• Introduction I: sections 1-3

Notes

Untitled First Page

• Heidegger begins the book with a quote from Plato’s Sophist.

  • Michael Gelvin suggests that Heidegger chooses to begin with this quote from Plato for a variety of reasons.

• First, Plato was unique in relating the problems of the individual human being to the immensely speculative reaches of abstract metaphysics.

  • For example, Plato’s theory of Forms arose out of immediately existential needs such as love, death, and justice.

  • Gelvin suggests that Heidegger may have wished to achieve a similar kind of unity between his own ontological theorizing and the immediate existential realities of everyday life.

• S…

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I am publishing this guide to help you prepare for our study of Being and Time.

With a text as difficult and easily misunderstood as Being and Time, it is absolutely critical that we adopt the appropriate approach and start off with the right expectations, assumptions, and warnings.

My first warning to you is this:

This study will be a bit like sailing.

In order to sail it is necessary to do quite a bit of preparatory work — equipment checks, studying the weather, tying knots, untying knots, etc.

But my promise to you is this.

If you put in the time and energy necessary to safely launch into the open ocean, eventually you will be able to sail with this text and enjoy the intellectual thrill that comes with it.

I truly believe your life will never be the same if you are able to understand the key insights contained within it.

Like I said in my video lecture on Heidegger’s philosophical project, what we are receiving here is a new way of seeing — a new kind of truth.

Ready?

Let’s go.

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