The metaphorics of physics in Heidegger's 'Being and Time'

Being and Time was written during a period of intense scientific activity. It was also a period in which incipient German fascism impinged upon the scientific world. The historical events of the 1922 Bohrfest and the 1919 confirmation of Einstein's relativity theory both had political ramifications.;This dissertation demonstrates that references to explicit problems and issues of contemporary physics are embedded in Martin Heidegger's language both prior to and ultimately within Being and Time.;This scientific presence surfaces in Heidegger's later thematization of Wissenschaft, his reappropriation of concepts from Being and Time within his Rectoral Address, and his praise of the "inner truth and greatness" of the Nazi regime: his political support seems tied to a distorted scientific model.;Chapter One supplies the linguistic/philosophic foundation. It interprets Heidegger's statement in Being and Time regarding the task of philosophy as preserver of basic concepts as evidencing the deliberate linguistic use of polysemism. Chapter Two places Heidegger directly within a scientific social network. It infers contact between the Freiburg phenomenologists and the Gottingen scientists through Husserl. Stein, Courant, Bell, Szilasi, and Becker, and Niels Bohr's Danish community are mentioned. An overlooked statement by the physicist Max Born attesting to conversations with Heidegger further demonstrates personal contact. Chapter Three indicates texts prior to Being and Time where science tacitly appears. Ereignis and World, for example, resonate Einstein's relativity theory. Chapter Four provides an informal textual overview. Phenomenology's relation to light, the persistence of mathematical language, the relationship between Newtonian physics and inauthenticity, and the tie between Bohr's atom and authentic Dasein are among the topics discussed. Chapter Five summarizes the dissertation, discusses the joint political/scientific implications and raises further questions.