ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter gives an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to take into consideration Heidegger's expressed concerns but also the neglected continuities of his work in order to allow his way of doing philosophy to bring to the fore that which his philosophy addresses. The word closer exudes emotion. However, the word 'closer' is not the only source of ambivalence here – the other peculiar word positioned around the middle of the sentence, the word 'now', urges us to wonder if the sentence suggests a position in space or a point in time. In any case, to be close is to have a relationship with that which exists in proximity but also with that which remains far. Presence and absence are part of the game of nearness; that is, if nearness does play games.
