Heidegger's Fourfold

Plebuch, Damian V.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/18331 Copy

Description

Title

Heidegger's Fourfold

Author(s)

Plebuch, Damian V.

Issue Date

2011-01-14T22:46:29Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Melnick, Arthur

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Melnick, Arthur

Committee Member(s)

• Wagner, Steven J.
• Wengert, Robert G.
• Sanders, Kirk R.

Department of Study

Philosophy

Discipline

Philosophy

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Heidegger's Fourfold
• Earth
• Sky
• Gods
• Mortals

Abstract

This monograph attempts to show that Heidegger’s fourfold is neither as mysterious as some commentators have claimed, nor is it inconsistent with the position that Heidegger held when he wrote Being and Time. After a brief introduction, I proceed to an analysis of earth. In the second chapter, I argue that Heidegger’s view on this subject is, in many respects, heavily indebted to his interpretation of Aristotle. The third chapter is an analysis of sky. This chapter is both an investigation into the many aspects of sky and an analysis of the relation between sky and Heidegger’s various uses of “world” in Being and Time. The fourth chapter is an analysis of the most interpretively difficult member of the fourfold, gods. Gods allow for open spaces and ground fields of meaningfulness. The fifth chapter is an analysis of mortals. This chapter focuses heavily on Heidegger’s analysis of death in Being and Time, his middle works, and his later works. The most important insight into the understanding of the relationship between Heidegger’s earlier and later work is presented in this chapter. Namely, here I argue that ownedness and releasement to things are not opposed to one another. The claim that these two ways of being are opposed to one another is the usual grounds for the claim that Heidegger radically changed his views between the time that he wrote Being and Time and his later works.

Graduation Semester

2010-12

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18331

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