Logic: The Question of Truth

Martin Heidegger

Newcomb Livraria Press

About this ebook

A new 2024 translation of Martin Heidegger's early work "Logic: The Question of Truth" (original German "Logik Die Frage Nach der Wahrheit"), originally published in 1925. This edition contains a new afterword by the Translator, a timeline of Heidegger's life and works, a philosophic index of core Heideggerian concepts and a guide for terminology across 19th and 20th century Existentialists. This translation is designed for readability and accessibility to Heidegger's enigmatic and dense philosophy. Complex and specific philosophic terms are translated as literally as possible and academic footnotes have been removed to ensure easy reading. In the winter term of 1925/26, Martin Heidegger gave a four-hour lecture on logic in Marburg a. L., in which he deviated from his original plan as the work progressed. He contrasted traditional logic with his own concept of philosophical logic, a logic of truth that inquires into the λόγος. Heidegger analysed the contemporary state of logic, focusing in particular on Husserl's "Logical Investigations" and Husserl's opposition to psychologism. The first part of his lecture revisited Aristotle's interpretation of truth, especially the complex chapter Θ 10 of Metaphysics. The second part discussed the question of truth in the context of the analysis of Being, with an emphasis on the theme of time, including an interpretation of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". This work formed the core of his later work "Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics", with more detailed individual analyses. Addressing the concept of truth within the framework of phenomenological and existential philosophy, Heidegger presents a sophisticated investigation into the nature and essence of truth. The focus of the paper is not merely to answer what truth is in the conventional sense, but to probe deeper into the existential and phenomenological aspects of truth, questioning its very foundation and nature in human understanding and experience. This involves a critical analysis of the relationship between language, thought, and reality, and how these elements interact to constitute what we understand as truth. Heidegger's exploration of these themes is not merely an intellectual exercise; it reflects his broader philosophical project of understanding the nature of Being.