Abstract

Although the literature generally acknowledges the influence of Aristotle on Heidegger, the want of a systematic treatment of Heidegger's reading of Aristotle remains unfulfilled. This dissertation studies the general terms of Heidegger's dialogue with the Stagirite. It is articulated in three sections. The first outlines the stage in which Heidegger's philosophical investigation initially took shape. In presenting this issue, I discuss how Heidegger's increasingly critical stance vis-a-vis the Neo-Kantian problematic gradually drove him to Phenomenology, viz. to Husserl. In fact, it is possible to discern a double movement in which, at first, Heidegger is led towards Husserl and then, on a second moment, is driven away from him and towards Aristotle. The core of Heidegger's criticism is that, in Husserl, the question of Being is left undiscussed. Heidegger proposes, thus, a phenomenology grounded in the Question of Being. The presence of Aristotle is central to this project, as it is to be argued. The two remaining sections of the dissertation analyze the Aristotelian influence on Heidegger's Seinsfrage. Section two focuses on the Analytics of Dasein. My main contention is that the notion of Dasein should be understood as Heidegger's appropriation of the Aristotelian notion of the soul. I therefore propose the word Ensouled as an English translation for Dasein. In section three, I investigate Heidegger's interpretation of three of the ways in which Being may be said according to Aristotle: Being as true; Being as act and potency and Being according to the categories. In the conclusion, I present an analysis of Heidegger's discussion of the Aristotelian concept of time and suggest that there is a close parallelism between Aristotle's ousia and Heidegger's Prasenz, inasmuch as both serve as a prime analogate, respectively, of Being and of Time. The dissertation yields at least two important contributions. The first is a demonstration that it is principally through Aristotle that Heidegger formulates his own specific understanding of phenomenology. The second is a better understanding of the importance of Aristotle in the genesis and development of Heidegger's Fundamental Ontology