“Heidegger in 90 Minutes” by Paul Strathern, Ivan R. Dee

“Heidegger in 90 Minutes” by Paul Strathern is a brief introduction to philosophy of Heidegger. Main content ‘Heidegger’s Life and Works’ comments Heidegger’s life with and his philosophy from mainly his masterpiece “Being and Time”. First, this content describes Heidegger’s catholic background, and his abandon of theology and conversion to philosophy. Next it explains phenomenology and psychologism of his master Edmund Husserl, and Heidegger’s rebellion to Husserl’s philosophy. And he writes experiments of the World War Ⅰ and the great depression as political chaos and cultural chaos. This political cultural chaos and miserable condition made Heidegger criticized to traditional philosophy from Athens (Plato and Asistotle) to the Neo Kantian or the Hegelian, reevaluated the fundamental concept of being by pre-Socratic philosophers equal to Nietzche.
Then Strathern comments Heidegger’s chief work “Being and Time” by explanation of its principal concepts “Being (Sein)”, “being-in-the-world (In-Der-Welt-Sein)”, “Dasein”, “disclosedness”, “aletheia”, “essence of man” and the anticipation of death.
Heidegger thought philosophy focus on study of “being” itself. The central conception is “Dasein” which means the entirely “human existence”. Understanding Dasein is understanding own being, and it understands the being of beings at the same time. The core of Dasein is be in the actual world, it’s called “being-in-the-world” which is “specificity of our being” where “we ourselves are”. Being is not a mysterious thing, it’s everyday thing as “being-in-the-world”. So we understand it by “discloseness” of it. Heidegger’s an ancient Greek word “aletheia (truth)” means unconcealment. The unconcealment disclose our being and its possibilities, yet simultaneously we conceal all other possibilities. To choose one disclosure, beings cut away the other possible disclosure. Thus Heidegger arrived at the concept “essence of man”. “This could be done only by elimination the accidental and the trivial as we concentrate on the core of human being. Only by the anticipation of death is every accidental and ‘provisional’ possibility driven out. By grasping the ‘finitude of one’s existence,’ one frees oneself from the shallow ‘multiplicity of possibilities’ that life presents us.”

The commentary of this book on Heidegger, Strathern take notice of only main theories of Being on Heidegger’s major work “Being and Time” and background of the book. Strathern use German history, atmosphere and situation of the era, history of philosophy and biological description of Heidegger as for solely explain theories of “Being and Time”. The commentary on “Being and Time” is plain and short but essential, excellent and to the point. But it’s regrettable Strathern disregard Heidegger’s later philosophy, I think the thought has possibilities to beyond humanism, nihilism, problems of modern civilization (such as excessive advanced culture, technology and science), metaphysics and philosophy and human thought themselves.
This book is a only introduction to Heidegger’s complicated and tough philosophy. Its essence and overall characteristics in this small book. So I recommend this book to complete beginners to Heidegger.

“Comments and Criticisms” contains Heidegger’s writings and comments to Heidegger’s philosophy.

Heidegger in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series)
Paul Strathern
Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 9 April 2002
96 pages $7.95
ISBN: 978-1-56663-438-0
Contents:
Introduction
Heidegger’s Life and Works
Comments and Criticisms
Chronology of Significant Philosophical Dates
Chronology of Heidegger’s Life and Times
Recommended Reading
Index

“Hegel in 90 Minutes” by Paul Strathern, Ivan R. Dee

“Hegel in 90 Minutes” by Paul Strathern is a brief introduction to philosophy of Hegel. Main content ‘Hegel’s Life and Works’ describes Hegel’s biography with his philosophy and historical context.
A remarkable point of this book is the commentary on theory of dialectical method of Hegel like descriptions below.
“The entire system rests on Hegel’s original mode of reasoning—his celebrated dialectical method. This starts with a ‘thesis.’ For example: Existence. According to Hegel, this is inevitably seen to be inadequate and incomplete. When we contemplate the notion ‘existence,’ it generates its opposite, its ‘antithesis’: Nonexistence. This too is then seen to be in adequate, and the two opposite then merge to form a ‘synthesis.’ In this case: Becoming. This synthesis retains what is rational in both the thesis and the antithesis, and in its turn may become another thesis. This allows the process to be repeated, in a series of triads, ascending in to ever more rational realms.”
“Hegel begins by saying that logic is the study of thought. As we have seen, the dialectical process ascends toward mind or Absolute Spirit. Mind is the ultimate reality, abstracted from the particular forms it assumes in the natural world. It is mind that shapes the world.”
And Strathern comments the Hegel’s system on “The Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Science in Outline” and the world-historical view of “Philosophy of History”.

This small book exclusively concentrates on commentary on Hegel’s “absolute idealism” and “dialectical method”. So Strathern can’t write entire Hegel’s tremendous philosophical theory and system. And descriptions to Hegel’s philosophy in this book is typical, stereotyped and superficial. Strathern emphasize Hegel’s progressiveness, idealism and influence to Karl Marx.
This book is an only brief introduction to Hegel and his philosophy.

Hegel in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series)
Paul Strathern
Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 28 April 1997
91 pages $9.95
ISBN: 978-1-56663-154-9
Contents:
Introduction
Hegel’s Life and Works
Afterword
From Hegel’s Writings
Chronology of Significant Philosophical Dates
Chronology of Hegel’s Life
Chronology of Hegel’s Era
Recommended Reading
Index

‘Plato in 90 Minutes’ by Paul Strathern, Ivan R. Dee

‘Plato in 90 Minutes’ by Paul Strathern is a good introduction to Plato’ life and his philosophy. Main content ‘Plato’s Life and Works’ is a Plato’s biography with his theory of philosophy, age and background. It describes from Plato’s early life and Socrates’ pure philosophical approach influenced on Plato. The assertion is “philosophy is not a theory but an activity.” And, Strathern comments theory of Ideas and Forms and the theory influences on Christianity and the Medieval philosophy. Then he describes Plato’s teaching at Academy, political theory of ‘The Republic’, such as concepts of justice and
philosopher-king, which lacks individual freedom and was a precedence of totalitarianism. In the end Strathern comments Theory of love in “The Symposium”.
‘Afterword’ describes some influences by Plato, especially Neoplatonism.

Strathern’s commentaries on Plato’s theory of Forms and political science are excellent and concise. On the other hand, In this book, Strathern points out Plato’s ruins and mistakes as it is. Idealism of Socrates and Plato lost and broke natural scientific viewpoints and approaches to philosophy by Pre-Socratics. And, Plato’s ‘ideal republic’ ruled by the philosopher-king or philosopher-rulers is strange and odd. In this Plato’s utopia, there’re no individual freedom, family life and personal interest. It’s a functional and mechanical state like communist communities or countries, and a root of totalitarianism.

Commentary and description of this book is essential and to the point, and well-balanced of between praise and critic, but it’s only a brief introduction to Plato and his philosophy.

Plato in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series)
Paul Strathern
Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 1 September 1996
89 pages $9.95
ISBN: 978-1-56663-127-3
Contents:
Introduction
Plato’s Life and Works
Afterword
From Plato’s Writings
Chronology of Significant Philosophical Dates
Chronology of Plato’ Life
Chronology of Plato’ Era
Recommended Reading
Index