Heidegger's Philosophy of Art

by Julian Young

Overview

This book, the first comprehensive study in English of Heidegger's philosophy of art, starts in the mid-1930s with Heidegger's discussion of the Greek temple and his Hegelian declaration that a great artwork gathers together an entire culture in affirmative celebration of its foundational 'truth', and that, by this criterion, art in modernity is 'dead'. His subsequent work on Hölderlin, whom he later identified as the decisive influence on his mature philosophy, led him into a passionate engagement with the art of Rilke, Cézanne, Klee and Zen Buddhism, liberating him not only from the overly restrictive conception of art of the mid-1930s but also from the disastrous politics of the period. Drawing on material hitherto unknown in the anglophone world, Young establishes a new account of Heidegger's philosophy of art and shows that his famous essay 'The Origin of the Work of Art' is its beginning, not its end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521616225
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/02/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.51(d)

Table of Contents

1. 'The origin of the work of art'; 2. Hölderlin: the early texts; 3. Hölderlin: the later texts; 4. Modern art.

Editorial Reviews

Young (philosophy, U. of Aukland) agrees with most philosophers that the discussion should start with the 1935-39 essay The Origin of the Work of Art, but disagrees that it should end there as well. He argues that Heidegger himself later recognized that it was seriously inadequate in important respects, and that he spend another 40 years developing his ideas about art. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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