Charles Guignon

12/13/21

12/6/21

I'm not opposed to an intelligent argument against the concept of authenticity, but Guignon stacks the deck so blatantly that he ends up undermining himself. Right off the bat, he defines authenticity in a simplistic and misleading way (and uses Dr. Phil as his straw man, instead of grappling with, say, Charles Taylor). I gave up halfway through the book after he made some ridiculous claims about art in the 19th century that seemed purely based on cliches.

This is a competent guide for new students of Heidegger, though it is necessarily crude to have to simplify and reorganize his thinking. The chapter death, time, and history is probably the most helpful, for it is some of Heidegger's most challenging material. Also included are essays on Heidegger's thoughts on psychotherapy, ecology, Buddhism, and technology. Although the essay on Heidegger's politics is fairly amateurish. An average text on the whole.