Metaphysical Foundations of Logic

is a work that argues against the claim that Leibniz’ metaphysics was grounded in his ideas about logic and suggests that the opposite is true, for logic is always grounded in metaphysics or ontology, not the other way around; possible only on the basis of a deeper human transcendence of the world.

The lecture course known in English as Metaphysical Foundations of Logic (often nicknamed “The Leibniz Course”) was the final course Heidegger gave in Marburg: the last fruit of this key period of his career, and one of the ripest. The first part of the course discusses the great German philosopher G. W. Leibniz (1646–1716). In the early twentieth century there had been attempts to show that Leibniz was mostly a logician, and that his metaphysics or general theory of reality was grounded in his ideas about logic. Heidegger wants to reverse this priority and show that logic is always grounded in metaphysics or ontology, not the other way around. Logic turns out to be possible only on the basis of a deeper human transcendence of the world. This transcendence is the topic of the second half of the lecture course, which will be our focus here.

metaphysical foundations of logic, n.Definitions

metaphysical foundations of logic