Being and Time explanation of the understanding preceding any other way of knowing, such as the use of logic, theory, specific regional ontology. At the same time, there is no access to being other than via beings themselves—hence pursuing the question of being inevitably means questioning a being with regard to its being. Heidegger argues that a true understanding of being ("Seinsverständnis") can only proceed by referring to particular beings, and that the best method of pursuing being must inevitably, he says, involve a kind of hermeneutic circle, that is (as he explains in his critique of prior work in the field of
Heather Douglas (philosopher) Heather Douglas (philosopher) Heather Douglas (born March 21, 1969) is a philosopher of science best known for her work on the role of values in science, science policy, the importance of science for policymaking, and the history of philosophy of science. Douglas is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University. She formerly held the Waterloo Chair in Science and Society at the University of Waterloo, and taught at University of Pittsburgh, University of Tennessee, and University of Puget Sound. She is the author of "Science, Policy, and the Value Free Ideal", an influential book on the