The Concept of Time

The Concept of Time presents Heidegger's so-called Dilthey review, widely considered the first draft of his celebrated masterpiece, Being and Time. Here, Heidegger reveals his deep commitment to Wilhelm Dilthey and Count Yorck von Wartenburg. He agrees with them that historicity must be at the centre of the new philosophy to come. However, he also argues for an ontological approach to history. From this ontological turn, he develops the so-called categories of Dasein.

This work demonstrates Heidegger's indebtedness to Yorck and Dilthey and provides further evidence to the view that thought about history is the germ cell of Being and Time. However, it also shows that Heidegger's commitment to Dilthey was not without reservations and that his analysis of Dasein actually employs Husserl's phenomenology.

The work reopens the question of history in a broader sense, as Heidegger struggles to thematise history without aligning it with world-historical events. The text also provides a concise and readable summary of the main themes of Being and Time and, as such, is an ideal companion to that text.