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Heidegger's Social Ontology

Heidegger's Social Ontology

Heidegger's Social Ontology

The Phenomenology of Self, World, and Others
Nicolai K. Knudsen, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
April 2024
Paperback
9781009114011
£24.99
GBP
Paperback
GBP
Hardback

    Many critics and commentators hold that Heidegger had next to nothing to say about human sociality. In this book, Nicolai Knudsen rectifies this popular misconception. Drawing on his influential philosophy of mind, his philosophy of action and his conception of being-with, Knudsen argues that the central idea of Heidegger's social ontology is that we can only understand others, do things with others, and form lasting groups with others if we pre-reflectively correlate their behaviour with our own projects and the world that lies between us. Knudsen then uses this framework to formulate Heideggerian contributions to current debates on social cognition, collective intentionality, and social normativity. He also reinterprets Heidegger's famous concept of authenticity in the light of his social ontological commitments, and shows how Heidegger's affiliation with National Socialism betrays his own best insights into the fundamental structure of social life.

    • Rectifies the popular misconception that Heidegger had next to nothing to say about human sociality and reconstructs contributions to current debates on social cognition, collective intentionality, and social normativity
    • Explores the connection between Heidegger's fundamental ontology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and his conception of social life
    • Offers a novel analysis of the relation between Heidegger's social ontology and his affiliation with National Socialism

    Reviews & endorsements

    'This is an excellent book that provides a systematic and long-overdue account of Heidegger's contributions to social ontology. A further virtue of Knudsen's work is that it does not shy away from the catastrophe of Heidegger's political commitments in the 1930s.  A much-needed corrective to the received view, even within phenomenology circles, that Heidegger has little to offer by way of a substantive account of sociality.' David R. Cerbone, West Virginia University

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    Product details

    April 2024
    Paperback
    9781009114011
    294 pages
    229 × 152 × 16 mm
    0.431kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Part I. Being-in-the-world and Being-with:
    • 1. What is social ontology?
    • 2: Transcendental social ontology in Husserl and Heidegger
    • 3: Holism and relativism
    • Part II. Forms of Being-with:
    • 4. Interpersonal understanding
    • 5. Shared action
    • 6. Two types of social normativity
    • Part III. Politics and Authenticity:
    • 7. Heidegger's Politics
    • 8. The demand for authenticity
    • Conclusion.