An introduction is a beginning, and Heidegger, like Husserl, looks upon philosophy as properly engaged in a continual return to beginnings. Hence, an introduction to Heidegger's philosophy might be thought to be in accord with this council to return to origins. Yet the claim that so brief an article as this should penetrate to the beginning of Heidegger's thought would obviously be an exaggerated assertion. I shall suggest no such claim, but will be content merely to hope that this essay will assist the reader to achieve an original grasp of Heidegger's philosophy for himself. Several rather startling criticisms which his philosophy have drawn from some recent writers suggest that an introduction of this sort is by no means inappropriate.