Book · 1927
Being and Time
by Martin Heidegger
Heidegger argues human existence only gets its meaning by being oriented toward its own death, and builds an entire system around that fact.
What does Reddit think of Being and Time?
r/askphilosophy carries this book's main traffic; r/philosophy shows up too, but for a different reason than you'd guess. The top r/askphilosophy comment (↑255) does what you'd expect: it lays out 'Sein zum Tode,' being-toward-death, as the book's central claim about how mortality gives existence its meaning. What's less expected is how much of the rest of the conversation is actually about Heidegger the man, not the argument. Two of r/philosophy's highest-voted threads (↑175, ↑130) relitigate the Nazi party membership and the Black Notebooks, the 1933 Freiburg rectorship specifically, rather than anything in the text. A separate ↑122 comment pushes back hard on treating this as existentialist self-help, insisting the meaning-of-being-is-time argument has nothing to do with 'live life to the fullest.' One ↑225 comment is openly hostile toward popularizers, calling thirty hours of a pop-Heidegger lecturer's material unwatchable. Even the boredom discussion (↑95) treats the book as a serious analytic object, not a gateway. This isn't casual reading, and Reddit doesn't treat it like some.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Being-toward-death as the source of meaning
- · Heidegger's Nazi party membership and the Black Notebooks
- · Distinguishing Being and Time from popular existentialism
- · Boredom as a mode of encountering one's own existence
Common praise
- + The top r/askphilosophy explainer (↑255) actually walks through 'Sein zum Tode' instead of just naming it and moving on.
- + An r/askphilosophy reply (↑95) uses the book's own account of boredom to make the being/time relationship concrete.
Common criticism
- − Two of the highest-voted r/philosophy threads (↑175, ↑130) spend their upvotes on Heidegger's Nazi affiliations and the Black Notebooks, not the book's arguments.
- − One ↑225 commenter calls a popular interpreter's thirty hours of lectures unwatchable, so the popularized version of this material draws real contempt here.
- − An ↑122 reply has to correct people for treating this as generic existentialism telling you to 'live life to the fullest.'
Who it's for
Come in already knowing 'being-toward-death' isn't a vibe. r/askphilosophy's top explainer (↑255) treats it as an actual argument about how mortality structures meaning, not a memento mori poster. Expect Heidegger's Nazi party membership to come up whenever the book does; r/philosophy relitigates the Black Notebooks and the 1933 rectorship specifically (↑175, ↑130), so decide now whether separating the philosopher from the politics is something you're willing to do. Want existentialism as a general mood instead? An r/askphilosophy commenter (↑91) points elsewhere, to Sartre's Existentialism Is a Humanism. This book gets treated like an argument to work through, not a feeling to catch.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Being and Time?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“The German philosopher Martin Heidegger famously argued that being human is "Sein zum Tode" (being-to-death): that human existence gains its meaning (Heidegger calls it "Sinn des Seins") only by being directed towards death. This is in his main work "Sein und Zeit" (Being and Time). Heidegger's argu…
“I watched around 30 hours of this man talking and I challenge *anyone* on this sub to make it even ten minutes through *any* of his lectures from either of his major series (*Awakening from the meaning crisis* and especially *After Socrates*). He wants to teach a kind of pseudoheideggerian pseudop…
“That was the main issue I had with the article. I've had a look at the black notebooks myself, and I did not interpret them as slanderous to this extent. Yes, he was a Nazi. Yes, he supported Nazi rhetoric for some time. But his involvement remains questionable. Heidegger himself never published pol…
“I graduated from a heavily analytic department, I'm currently a postgrad at a continental department. I really love both, and I see the analytic-continental split as broadly sociological. First, I'd say I don't think you've had enough time to really digest these philosophers to make a substant…
“Alright, a cursory search of this page did not return relevant results, so I'll post some obligatory sources around this debate. In the annals of this question there are roughly three important points of reference: 1) Heidegger's appointment as rectory of a state-run university (Freiburg) in 1933 w…
“Except in the very earliest writings of Heidegger, his philosophy really cannot be entangled with existentialism. It is true that for him the meaning of being was time, but this had nothing to do with the general maxim 'to live life to the fullest.' It is true that "Being and Time" does trace out th…
“I am casually reading On being and time and was under the impression he was already well known as a Nazi?? I keep that in mind going in but weren’t most people too?
“Martin Heidegger wrote on boredom as a encounter with existence, describing different kinds of boredom and how they demonstrate the relationship between being and time.
“Trying to read Hiedegger to understand Satre as an amauter is like learning to be a helicopter pilot in order to get to the grocery store faster. Incredibly difficult and unlikely to help you very much. *Being and Time* is probably one of the most difficult Philosophy books out there, and Husserl is…
“For existentialism, probably the best place to start is Jean-Paul Sartre's *Existentialism Is A Humanism'*. It's an excellent introduction to existentialism. *Nausea*, his first novel, is an existential classic. John Macquarrie's *Existentialism* is excellent in terms of giving you an overview of e…
“>What is the point of reading Heidegger? >I grant that the concept of Dasein is pathbreaking and has been influential in the post-modernist and existentialist circles >I plan to do my Masters degree on Critical Theory or Philosophy in general I feel like you might rather need some reassurance th…
“As someone that has read and to a large extent understood Heidegger and the phenomenological methodology I find myself having nothing to say to such criticisms. Like someone telling me that a complex Jazz piece is just noise cause they haven’t managed to grasp it I can only tell them to listen again…
“Earlier in my life I probably would've said Heidegger, Being and Time. A very difficult book. But as I learned to appreciate his unique style and use of language, it got easier. I now don't find it especially hard, and it contains a lot of ideas that are pretty brilliant, even intuitive. So I'd say…
“Frankly, its going to be a rough read (and maybe not super fruitful) unless you have a clinical-specific read-along guide. If your choice could be between Being and Time, or lots of material on the specific clinical applications/discussions of Heidegger, I'd pick the latter. It's very easy to get lo…
“There is nothing comparatively modest about Heidegger's project in Being and Time. I don't think you're *alone* in thinking this; I think this has been the classic analytic reception of Heidegger. I think it's unfair and ignorant, however. I think you're probably using Dreyfus to try to translate He…
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Being and Time — frequently asked
Is Being and Time actually about existentialism?+
Not really, according to a pointed r/philosophy correction (↑122). It argues that outside Heidegger's earliest writings, his philosophy can't be entangled with existentialism, and that the book's claim that the meaning of being is time has nothing to do with the general maxim to 'live life to the fullest.' Reddit treats the existentialist label as a misread here.
What is 'being-toward-death' in Being and Time?+
The claim that human existence, what Heidegger calls Dasein, only gains meaning by being directed toward its own death. The top r/askphilosophy answer (↑255) walks through this using Heidegger's own German terms, 'Sein zum Tode' and 'Sinn des Seins,' framing it as the book's central argument rather than a side point.
Does Heidegger's Nazi history come up when Reddit discusses Being and Time?+
Constantly, on r/philosophy specifically. Two of the highest-upvoted threads here (↑175, ↑130) work through his 1933 rectorship at Freiburg and the Black Notebooks, with one commenter arguing his actual involvement 'remains questionable' even while conceding he supported Nazi rhetoric. It's a live, unresolved argument, not settled trivia.
Should I start with Being and Time to learn about existentialism?+
No, based on the redirect an r/askphilosophy commenter gives (↑91): for existentialism specifically, start with Sartre's Existentialism Is a Humanism, described as an excellent introduction, with Nausea as a companion novel. Being and Time isn't positioned as the beginner's door into that broader tradition.