Vigils and Nocturne
Black Notebooks 1952/53–1957

Martin Heidegger (Author), Scott M. Campbell (Translated by), David C. Abergel (Translated by)

9780253074522

Hardback, published 25 November 2025

316 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg

"Campbell and Abergel give us an especially careful translation of these journals that include self-interpretations, thoughts on the history of philosophy, observations on the atomic age, and enigmatic linguistic experiments." - Richard Polt, author of Time and Trauma: Thinking Through Heidegger in the Thirties

"This intriguing, fascinating book immerses us in Heidegger's internal deliberations, self-clarifications, and candid remarks about his works and interests. The rigorous, inventive translation embraces the challenge of his claim that his writings are 'absolutely untranslatable.'" - Pol Vandevelde, author of Heidegger and the Romantics: The Literary Invention of Meaning

Vigils and Nocturne is the latest English translation of Martin Heidegger's Collected Works. Presenting three of Heidegger's later "Black Notebooks" from the 1950s, this volume chronicles the philosopher's private thoughts and personal observations after the reinstatement of his right to teach in 1949.

In this volume, we see many of Heidegger's fascinating meditations on topics ranging from language, metaphysics, and technology to the turn, the event, and the meaning of Being, as well as contemporary events and concerns: Sputnik, nuclear energy, and the atomic bomb. Heidegger also develops new ways of approaching key concepts in his thinking, particularly focusing on the vigil and the nocturne and a relatively new idea in his work: Ver-Hältnis, or the relation of holding back.

Translator's Introduction
Vigils I
Vigils II
Nocturne I
Editor's Afterword
German-English Glossary
English-German Glossary
Greek-English Glossary
Latin-English Glossary