distress and care were not meant as psychological or anthropological comments or propositions. Instead, they were specifically proposed as philosophical (or, more accurately, ontological) statements and phenomenological observations. Remembering the influence of Brentano and Aristotle, we will see that Heidegger’s principle philosophical concern was the disclosure of the various ways of Being and particularly, Human Being.In 1927, Heidegger astonished the German philosophical domain with the publication of his magnum opus Sein und Zeit , a work that, although almost unreadable, was immediately felt to be of primary importance. Perhaps partly due to its intriguingly difficult style, the book was acclaimed as a very deep and important work not only in German speaking countries but also in Latin countries, where Phenomenology had already been popularised. It strongly influenced Jean-Paul Sartre (although, as with Husserl, Sartre’s phenomenological ontology concentrated more upon consciousness than Heidegger believed was necessary). Despite his protestations, Heidegger was classed, on the strength of Being and Time as the leading atheistic Existentialist. However, the book received a colder reception in England and its influence was negligible for several decades.In order to understand the above titled question, we must first attempt to understand some of the fundamental points that define Heidegger’s difficult philosophy. To begin with, it may useful for us to consider Heidegger’s reasons for writing Being and Time and, to consider some of the philosophical problems that the book addresses. Heidegger believed that traditional philosophy was inherently problematic due to a particular way of understanding the nature of reality. This “particular way”, prevalent ever-since the dawn of western history due to the likes of Herecleitus and Aristotle, is an ontology which states that what is ultimately real is t...
