For Martin Heidegger in Being and Time, human existence (Dasein) is essentially finite in its directedness toward death as a final and unavoidable individuating possibility. In Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics, Heidegger further specifies the finitude of Dasein, following Kant, as the capacity to be affected by external objects, which gives rise to the temporal problem of the relationship be...

The concept of affordance is relatively easy to define, but has proved to be remarkably difficult to engineer. This paradox has sparked numerous debates as to its true nature. The discussion presented here begins with a review of the use of the term from which emerges evidence for a two-fold classification—simple affordance and complex affordance. Simple affordance corresponds to Gibson’s origi...

In Einführung in die Metaphysik (EM) Heidegger describes the advent of metaphysics by analyzing in detail the transition from the pre-socratic logos to what since Aristotle has come to be known as logic; in Die Frage nach dem Ding (DFD) (and in Heidegger 1950a ) the same story is told but this time by focusing on the decisive role of mathematics. EM mentions mathematics only indicidently, and n...

In a critique of my views on Marcuse’s relation to phenomenology, John Abromeit claims that Marcuse’s borrowings from Heidegger and Husserl are limited to the notion that modern science and technology are not neutral but are biased toward the domination of nature.2Abromeit thinks I exaggerate the importance of phenomenology for Marcuse in claiming more than this. Rather than replying to the det...

Recent disclosures regarding the relationship between Heidegger’s thought and his own version of National Socialism have led me to rethink my earlier efforts to portray Heidegger as a forerunner of deep ecology. His political problems have provided ammunition for critics, such as Murray Bookchin, who regard deep ecology as a reactionary movement. In this essay, I argue that, despite some simila...