This book appeals to students and scholars as a hermeneutic response to the initial publications of Martin Heidegger's Black Notebooks. The publication of the notebooks has caused wide-spread international debate amongst Heidegger scholars.They contain passages on Jewry that many claim are explicitly anti-Semitic propagating catchy philosophical expressions such as "being-historical anti-Semitism" and "metaphysical anti-Semitism". This text, along with the help of Professor Francesco Alfieri, is the culmination of Professor Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann's (Heidegger's last private assistant) review of the Notebooks as a whole, and in particular, those passages that were the focus of the public eye. Together, these two authors have drawn up a comprehensive philological analysis of volumes GA 94 through GA 97 of the Black Notebooks. The authors reveal that seeing these books as ponderings (Überlegungen) and as observations (Anmerkungen) have been given little consideration. They reveal how Heidegger has placed these Notebooks at the conclusion of the Complete Edition and can only be comprehensible as read alongside his lectures and complete body of work.

Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann, was assistant of Eugen Fink (from 1961 to 1970) and last private assistant of Martin Heidegger (from 1972 to 1976). At the behest of Heidegger he was appointed main scientific editor responsible for the Gesamtausgabe starting in 1975, still in publication. From 1979 to 2000 he occupied the chair of philosophy at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His research not only focuses on the Heideggerian corpus, but is also concentrated on Husserl, Augustine, Descartes and Lebiniz. Francesco Alfieri is professor of philosophy at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. From 2014, he was appointed private assistant to professor Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann. He is the Editor-in-Chief for the annotated Italian edition of the complete works of H. Conrad-Martius and the book series "Philosophy - Phenomenology - Texts by Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka", published by Morcelliana.