Abstract

The focus of this thesis is Heidegger's ambivalent relation to the question of community. Specifically, I argue that, while Heidegger's rigorous analysis in Sein und Zeit opens up the possibility of engaging this question, he nevertheless refrains from such an explicit engagement not just in Sein und Zeit but throughout the course of his thinking. I argue further that this avoidance of the question of community is not accidental to Heidegger's thinking but plays a critical role in his privileging the question of Being above all other questions. Finally, I demonstrate how a careful development of this question in terms of both Sein und Zeit and certain exigencies in Heidegger's later work leads to a clearer comprehension of his thinking and of community itself