Off the Beaten Track () is a 1950 essay collection by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. It consists of six essays originally published or delivered as lectures from 1935 to 1946. The recurring subjects are the history of metaphysics and the search for alternatives. "The Age of the World Picture", originally a 1938 lecture, was revised for the book to stand further away from National Socialism.
Title The German title Holzwege literally means 'woodway', a path through a forest, but is used in German idiomatically to mean "the wrong path or road". Heidegger explains the title thus:
Contents English titleGerman titleOrig. year "The Origin of the Work of Art" "Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes" 1935–6 "The Age of the World Picture" "Die Zeit des Weltbildes" 1938 "Hegel's Concept of Experience" "Hegels Begriff der Erfahrung" 1942–3 "Nietzsche's Word: 'God Is Dead'" "Nietzsches Wort 'Gott ist tot'" 1943 "Why Poets?" "Wozu Dichter?" 1946 "Anaximander's Saying" "Der Spruch des Anaximander" 1946
References
External links Cambridge University Press De Gruyter