Heidegger's account of truth as "aletheia"
Abstract
The philosophical genius nowadays widely acknowledged. of both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche is Central to the originality of both thinkers is their relentless critique of the received traditional conception of truth and reason, a critique reflected in not only the content but also the authorial style which they employed. It is the
contention of this thesis that following in their footsteps, Heidegger took over the leading insights of each of these thinkers translating them into his own idiom. In respect of Kierkegaard it shall be shown
that the key to his critical stance to his received tradition lay in his concept of truth as inwardness, a view he developed in his early work on Socrates.
It shall be argued in subsequent chapters that whilst this view of truth can be seen as having a formative influence on Heidegger's work, it is one that has been mediated by Heidegger 's reading of Nietzsche. In respect of this influence it is the purpose of this chapter to sketch out Nietzsche's critical stance towards the traditional concept of truth wherein his influence on Heidegger can be seen to have issued. In this respect we shall see that contrary to Kierkegaard's work, Nietzsche's critique is one that is problematic from the outset. The purpose of the account of his work is then to simply indicate the task
for thinking that Nietzsche's problematic genealogy set for his successors. In chapters two and three an account will be given showing how Heidegger's thought can be seen to have taken up the challenge set
by both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in formulating his account of truth as
aletheia - as inwardness in the absence of an absolute.