Overview

This book explores what anyone interested in ethics can draw from Heidegger's thinking. Heidegger argues for the radical finitude of being. But finitude is not only an ontological matter; it is also located in ethical life. Moral matters are responses to finite limit-conditions, and ethics itself is finite in its modes of disclosure, appropriation, and performance. With Heidegger's help, Lawrence Hatab argues that ethics should be understood as the contingent engagement of basic practical questions, such as how should human beings live? Visit our website for sample chapters!

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9780847696833

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Reviews

An exciting, imaginative, and significant contribution to ethics and ethical theory. Hatab writes with clarity and persuasiveness about a new approach to ethics that opens up the rich ethical implications of Heideggerian philosophy. Highly recommended. CHOICE For the first time, we witness the enormous payoff of an attempt to traverse the interface between ethics and ontology, in a way which is equally compelling to both the Heideggerian specialist and the generalist concerned with the broad spectrum of ethical issues. As such, Hatab's book is unparalleled in its scope and clarity. -- Frank Schalow, University of New Orleans A remarkably engaging and dense meditation on ethics in the face of the radical finitude of human life. Anyone looking for alternatives to the standard contemporary approaches to moral theory can read with great profit Hatab's excellent study...[He] has brought an extraordinary facility to reading Heidegger through the spectacles of ethical concerns, a facility that is, in my opinion, unmatched today. -- Daniel Dahlstrom, Boston University the book is a truly remarkable and original achievement. There is no other book like it-no other book that even approximates it, both in terms of its quality and in terms of its courage in tackling a subtly complicated problematic-the possibility if ethics within, or after, Heidegger's critique of modern ethical systems-that other Heidegger scholars have unfortunately been reluctant to tackle. It is written in a beautifully reader-friendly style,...it gives the reader a succint, but lucid and comprehensive introduction to Heidegger's philosophy in general, and is thus a perfect book for introducing students-undergraduates as well as graduate students-to Heidegger's philosophy in general and the ethical-political implications of his philosophy in particular... The book is analytically and conceptually sophisticated, skillfully and powerfully argued, and it breaks new ground in exploring the implications of Heidegger's ontological interpretation of Dasein for the possibility of an ethics in the wake of Heidegger's critique of modern ethics. Consequently, the book should not only appeal to the larger public, to students graduate and undergrduate, but also to scholars and academics... You have published a rare gem of a book. -- David Michael Levin, Northwestern University This remarkably lucid and persuasive book is the best attempt I have seen to apply Heidegger to ethical questions. Hatab's interpretations of Heidegger and Aristotle are clear, insightful and well-balanced, and his observations on education and child development give the book a solid grounding in human reality. -- Richard Polt, Xavier University This book is refreshingly unencumbered by the postmodern stylistic peculiarities that have infected so much recent secondary literature on Heidegger. It is clear that the lineaments of Hatab's Heideggerian challenge to contemporary ethical theories are sturdy enough to support a stimulating conversation with moral philosophy by which the latter will likely be enriched. The Review Of Metaphysics Hatab's work is the first book-length treatment of the implications of Heidegger's thought for the field of contemporary ethics and social/political philosophy. Hatab's book is the first to comprehensively investigate the potential moral implications of Heidegger's project as a whole. Philosophy in Review The book is both an excellent study of the implications of Heidegger's thought for ethics and a major contribution to ethical theory. Whether or not one is interested in Hedegger, Hatab's alternative to contemporary approaches to ethics should be required reading for anyone working in this field. Heythrop Journal

This remarkably lucid and persuasive book is the best attempt I have seen to apply Heidegger to ethical questions. Hatab's interpretations of Heidegger and Aristotle are clear, insightful and well-balanced, and his observations on education and child development give the book a solid grounding in human reality. --Richard Polt

Author Information

Lawrence J. Hatab is professor of philosophy at Old Dominion University. His previous books include Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: The Redemption of Time and Becoming and Myth and Philosophy: A Contest of Truths.

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