Abstract

This essay offers a critical assessment of Santiago Zabala's recent book, The Remains of Being: Hermeneutic Ontology After Metaphysics, with the intent of bringing to light Zabala's most provocative claims about hermeneutics, post-Heideggerian ontology, and the future of philosophy in the postmetaphysical epoch. After reflecting on the aims (section II) and structure of Zabala's book (section III), the essay attempts to make clear certain tensions that emerge from Zabala's basic terminology—specifically, the "remains" and "remnants" of Being—with respect to the "subjective" interpretation of Being Zabala defends (section IV). The paper concludes (section V) by pressing Zabala for a more thoroughgoing defense of his most ambitious claims about the primacy of hermeneutics in postmetaphysical thought, particularly regarding his reading of Heidegger's works.