THE CONSUMMATION OF METAPHYSICS

The way in which the history of western metaphysics set itself up in the beginning among the Greeks has been briefly looked into. However, if one is to appreciate fully Heidegger's reasons for a re-calling, re-thinking of western though, it is necessary to see, at least to some extent, the way in which things have turned out for the history of being as a result of the influential philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. It is necessary to take a quick glance at the conclusion (Vollendung) to the story of western metaphysics in the philosophies of Hegel and Nietzsche.

Nevertheless, in this brief treatment of the two "ends" of the history of philosophy in Heidegger's thought, it should not be imagined that Heidegger in his overall interpretation of the history of western philosophy contents himself merely with the analysis of a few thinkers at the beginning (Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plato) and a few at the end (Hegel and Nietzsche) of the western tradition of philosophy, and leaves the matter at that. Heidegger analyzes briefly or at length what he considers key thinkers throughout the gambit of philosophical history, as these are seen to be coming back to or going further away from an authentic understanding of being.

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