Searching for an authentic philosophy Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and the everyday

Superficially, Wittgenstein and Heidegger seem to be from two separate worlds: each worked within different philosophical traditions, and they were mostly unaware of each other's work. However, Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations and Heidegger's Being and Time share a number of astonishing similarities. From here, this book argues, in particular, that both philosophers show a similar preoccupation with authenticity. This book develops this argument in three stages. The first section explores the focus both philosophers place on the everyday, and how this focus brings with it a methodological emphasis on recovering what we already know rather than developing new theses. The second section argues that the dynamic of authenticity and inauthenticity in Being and Time finds its counterpart in Philosophical Investigations. Here, Egan expresses a particular conception of authenticity in Wittgenstein that emphasizes response and reciprocity in play and defends it. The third section examines how the two philosophers' conceptions of authenticity are reflected in their practices: each is not only concerned with what it means to exist authentically but also with what it means to practice philosophy authentically. For both philosophers, the issue of authenticity is closely linked to the question of philosophical method. One of the most prominent features of Wittgenstein's late approach, in his effort to highlight something without falling into metaphysics, is his use of comparisons between things and their likenesses to shed light on what might be before us but unseen. From here comes the benefit of this type of comparative book, which helps us better grasp the philosopher's concepts by placing them in a conflict, so to speak, with concepts that are either inherent in or superior to them. There is some information that may only emerge in this way, which is why we were keen to translate this book and the preceding one, "Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty: An Investigation into the Great Similarities and Differences Between Them," by Comarine Rombdin-Romlek.