Being and Death: An Outline of Integrationist Philosophy (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 309 And this remark is neither an isolated one nor one which is out of character with the rest of Heidegger's major book. Clearly, for Heidegger language, because it expresses the M'~o~ (Rede, discourse), provides the means of access to phenomena in the proper phenomenological sense. In short, it is the proper avenue to the structures of Being. In this sense language is clearly the "language o] Being" and the "house of Being" for Heidegger as early as the writing of Sein und Zeit. Since it is of the essence of Dasein to express itself (spricht sich aus), a task which is accomplished through language, language in Sein und Zeit is also the proper dwelling place of man. Rather than these theses only coming to fruition at the time of the Kehre, they are quite exp!ici~]y present from the beginning. This means that the "reversal" in Heidegger's thought is more a matter of emphasis on than reinterpretation o! the role of language. What happens when Heidegger's theses concerning language are emphasized is that the doctrine of meaning in Sein und Zeit whereby meaning is an existentiale of Dasein comes to be transformed. This, I think, is the true locus of the Kehre in Heidegger's thought, and it results from taking seriously views on language which have been present all along. Many of Heidegger's stratega, which are transcendental in the Kantian sense in the early Heidegger, have to be rethought once meaning is no longer understood as an existentiale of Dasein but rather as the very disclosure of Being itself. Guilead's book presents us with what, according to Paul Ricoeur, is a "new reading of Heidegger." Clearly the freshness of Guilead's approach is the result of his decision to orient his discussion around the topic of freedom, a topic which has usually been given only marginal consideration by commentators. Here lies much of the book's value. Guiiead points out that freedom is viewed by Heidegger as an emential relationship pertaining between man and Being--one arising out of that encounter between man and Being which gets articulated in and through language. Reminiscent of Kant, freedom is understood not as the "liberium arbitrium," but rather as "autonomy"--self-determination which confronts a law, a "nomos," which in turn is the structure of Being itself. Guilead does a good job of spelling out some of the subtle relationships which hold in this very puzzling area of German metaphysics . Of particular interest in this connection are his discussions of the distinction between Being and duty, the critique of contemporary value theory, and the critique of metaphysical and humanistic explanations of freedom. There are a number of other aspects of Heidegger's thought which Guilead handles with some philosophical grace, though perhaps a bit hastily. One hopes that in the future studies of Heidegger will be less ambitious, more particular in their focus, and perhaps more critical of the views they discuss. The "overall" picture is not to be despised, and it is certainly not an easy task to present it. In this respect Guilead has succeeded, for he has given us a plausible synopsis from the standpoint of an often neglected notion in Heidegger's thought. But there is something more and something different to be done. The significance of Heidegger for contemporary philosophy will surely depend upon men of Guilead's competence finding this other task worthy of their efforts. STEPHEN A. ERICXSON Pomona College Being and Death: An Outline o[ Integrationist Philosophy. By Jose Ferrater Morn. (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1965. Pp. viii + 267.) This book is an attempt--rare in contemporary American philosophy--to approach the idea of death as an authentic philosophical problem. Unlike the various existentialist philosophers who have treated this topic, Professor Mora systematically sets the issue against a larger background of traditional core problems of metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion. The problem of death is thus singled out "as no more, but no less, than a guiding thread for philosophical exploration" (p. 3). We are thus presented with the silhouette of a synoptic philosophical system as seen through the perspective of...