Martin Heidegger facts for kids

Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Full name	Martin Heidegger
Born	September 26, 1889; Meßkirch, Germany;
Died	May 26, 1976 (aged 86); Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany;
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy
School	Phenomenology · Hermeneutics · Existentialism · Deconstruction
Main interests	Ontology · Metaphysics · Art · Greek philosophy · Technology · Language · Poetry · Thinking
Notable ideas	Dasein · Gestell · Heideggerian terminology
	Influenced by Anaximander · Parmenides · Heraclitus · Plato · Aristotle · Duns Scotus · Kant · Hölderlin · Schelling · Hegel · Kierkegaard · Nietzsche · Dilthey · Brentano · Husserl · Rilke · Trakl · Jünger
	Influenced Strauss · Sartre · Kuki · Merleau-Ponty · Gadamer · Arendt · Marcuse · Foucault · Nancy · Ricoeur · Derrida · Agamben · Vattimo · Borgmann · Stiegler · Lacan · Benoist · Venner

Martin Heidegger (26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher.

His best known book, Being and Time, is considered one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century. It is a very difficult book, even for the German reader.

The Mesmerhaus in Meßkirch, where Heidegger grew up

Martin Heidegger´s grave in Meßkirch

In it, and later works, Heidegger maintained that our way of questioning defines our nature. But philosophy, western civilization's chief way of questioning, has lost its way. Finding ourselves "always already" fallen in a world of presuppositions, we lose touch with what being was before its truth became "muddled". As a solution to this condition, Heidegger advocated a return to practical life in the world, allowing it to reveal, or "unconceal" itself.

Images for kids

Heidegger's stone-and-tile chalet clustered among others at Todtnauberg
View from Heidegger's vacation chalet in Todtnauberg. Heidegger wrote most of Being and Time there.
Am Feldweg in Meßkirch. Heidegger often went for a walk on the path in this field. See the text Der Feldweg GA Nr. 13
The University of Freiburg, where Heidegger was Rector from April 21, 1933, to April 23, 1934