Heidegger, Martin 1889-1976
German philosopher

Born in Messkirch, Baden, the son of a Catholic sexton, he joined the Jesuits as a novice and went on to teach philosophy at Freiburg, where he wrote a dissertation on Duns Scotus. He was Professor of Philosophy at Marburg (1923-28) and then succeeded Edmund Husserl as Professor of Philosophy at Freiburg (1929-45), where he was appointed Rector in 1933. In a notorious inaugural address he declared his support for Hitler. He was officially retired in 1945 but continued to be an influential teacher and lecturer. He succeeded Husserl as a leading figure in the phenomenological movement, but was also much influenced by S�ren Kierkegaard, and though he disclaimed the label of 'existentialist' he was a key influence on Jean-Paul Sartre through his writings on the nature and predicament of human existence, the search for 'authenticity' and the distractions of Angst (dread). His major work is the original but almost unreadable Sein und Zeit (1927, 'Being and Time'), which presents an exhaustive ontological classification of 'Being' and an examination of the distinctively human mode of existence (Dasein) characterized by participation and involvement in the world of objects. His deliberate obscurity and riddling style partly account for his poor reception in the Anglo-Saxon world, but he is a continuing influence in other parts of Europe.

Bibliography: George Steiner, Heidegger (1978, US Martin Heidegger, 1979)