The Question of Being
Martin Heidegger attempts to answer the “question of Being” by appealing to the terminology and methodology of Dasein, most commonly defined as existence. Dasein is not simply any kind of existence, however, but an existence that is unique from all other existences in that it asks the question of existence while existing in the existence itself. In other words, one must first understand Dasein in order to understand Being because Dasein is a kind of being that is concerned about its very Being. Contrary to the popular opinion that in order to truly and clearly comprehend any phenomenon, the subject which interrogates must necessarily stand outside of the object of the interrogation, Being cannot be understood from outside of Being. One may then argue that there is no outside of Being, a point to which we shall return later in this paper; therefore, every being is fit to address the “the question of Being.” Although every being is within Being itself, not every being asks the question of Being; hence Dasein alone can elucidate Being because Dasein is Being for Heidegger. It is a “pure expression of Being” and thus chosen to designate Being because “its essence lies rather in the fact that is has always to be its Being as its own” (54). Logically speaking, if the object of which Dasein interrogates is Being, and it accomplishes this task by interrogating itself, a being in Being, then the object of interrogation, Being, is precisely the subject which performs the act of interrogation, Dasein; it follows that Dasein is nothing but Being itself.
Dasein answers the “question of Being” by disclosing Being through the revealing or unveiling of itself. In “Being and Time,” Heidegger articulates the way Dasein ...
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...turn to the human-kind of being, Dasein, for who else would bother to ask the question in the first place? To even ask the question, Heidegger says that one must already have some idea of what the answer might be. Yet, the answer is not at the level of awareness; the answer lies in our very existence at a pre-reflective level of understanding. When one asks “the question of Being,” it brings oneself face to face with one’s existence, as a human being, in the world. And, more importantly, it brings us to the question of what matters. This mattering constitutes the framework of meaning from which our world emerges, in space and time, as that which matters to us. Thus, the world is inherently meaningful in that it opens before us in its unconcealment, its uncovering. Coming before the “question of Being,” one cannot help but confront the awesome mystery of existence.
At the end of Being and Nothingness,Jean-Paul Sartre concedes that he has not overcome one of the key objections to existentialism viz., an outline of ethics, and states that he will do so later. Although Sartre attempted the project of an existential ethics, it was never quite completed. Enter Simone De Beauvoir. In this book, De Beauvoir picks up where Sartre has left us, refusing to answer the question of ethics. For De Beauvoir, human nature involves and ontological ambiguity whose finitude is bound in a duality. This duality of body and consciousness is the ambiguity which remakes nature the way we want it to be as a facticity of transcendence. It is within this understanding that the project of ethics must begin in ambiguity. However,
Following in the path of Kant and Fichte, Hegel has become one of the most influential philosophers in history. His philosophy has influenced important people, such as Karl Marx, and influential schools of thought, such as the Frankfurt School. This influence rides heavily on the chapter, Master and Slave in his book Phenomenology of Spirit. This chapter examines the relationship between two self-consciousnesses, and the process of self-creating. The relationship between the two self-consciousnesses and the eventual path to ‘acknowledgment’ or recognition of the self is outlined in the first line of the chapter: “Self-consciousness exists in itself and for itself, in that, and by the fact that it exists for another self-consciousness; that
Take a minute to relax. Enjoy the lightness, or surprising heaviness, of the paper, the crispness of the ink, and the regularity of the type. There are over four pages in this stack, brimming with the answer to some question, proposed about subjects that are necessarily personal in nature. All of philosophy is personal, but some philosophers may deny this. Discussed here are philosophers that would not be that silly. Two proto-existentialists, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, were keen observers of humanity, and yet their conclusions were different enough to seem contradictory. Discussed here will be Nietzsche’s “preparatory human being” and Kierkegaard’s “knight of faith”. Both are archetypal human beings that exist in accordance to their respective philosopher’s values, and as such, each serve different functions and have different qualities. Both serve the same purpose, though. The free spirit and the knight of faith are both human beings that brace themselves against the implosion of the god concept in western society.
Seen relatively, truth and freedom according to Heidegger are demonstrators of one’s admittance into Being. Heidegger read the history of metaphysics through the filter of this perception. Heidegger believed metaphysics to have forgotten this admittance, very much because Being does have tended to verge on denial. Metaphysics remained forgetful of this admittance. He viewed Schelling’s treatise as more or less the metaphysics of evil. For Heidegger, Schelling’s concept of individual freedom does represent a strong push to break through this admittance. Heidegger explicitly stated these were reasons for why he chose Schelling’s treatise on human freedom as a subject to lecture on in 1936 . Heidegger viewed this strong
Guignon, B. C. and Pereboom, D. (eds). (2001). Existentialism: Basic Writings. Indianapolis, IN: Hacket Publishing.
Kraus, Peter. "Heidegger on nothingness and the meaning of Being." Death and Philosophy. Ed. Jeff Malpas and Robert C. Solomon. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Rhetoric that is said to be deliberative attempts to persuade the audience to take action. The action that needs to be taken varies by example, however in the case of Martin Heidegger, he clearly advocates for mankind to retain their “essential nature”. Throughout the speech, it can be concluded that Heidegger has two main claims: that man’s autochtany (state of indigenity or belonging to a native region) is threatened by the emergence and superiority of technological advancements. He warns that man must distance himself from the bondage of technology as well as become open to the mystery of its existence. Heidegger calls this theory of his, “releasement toward things and openness to the mystery of belonging together” (Heidegger). The other claim he makes states that man must hold on to his “essential nature” – in that man is a meditative being; capable of thinking and questioning beyond what is obvious or reasonable. The evidence Heidegger uses to support these claims is riddled throughout his address as he details man’s ability to think both meditatively and calculatively. Because man has both these characteristics, it is a God-g...
In order to understand the meaning of existence in relation to philosophy, we need to discuss its ordinary meaning and the various levels of existence. The Chambers Concise Dictionary (1992, 362) defines ‘exist’ as having an actual being; to live; to occur; to continue to live’ and it defines existence as ‘the state of existing or being’. In other words, the Dictionary does not make a distinction between existence and living. However, philosophically there is the view that existence is different from living. What then is the meaning of existence in philosophy? In order to answer this question we shall examine how philosophers have used the term in their various works. Our attention shall focus on Plato and Sartre.
Heschel approaches his discussion of the mode of opportunity through the comparison of man and animal. The life of an animal is fixed, and what it can be is determined at birth. With the human person, there is no fixedness or determinedness; instead, there is prospect and opportunity. In living, man navigates a unique “inner life” which is infinitely complex influenced by the experiences of life (39). Man possesses an endless capability to develop his inner self, an unbounding potentiality which is not present in any other being or animal. Heschel concludes with how it is difficult to conceptualize limitless possibilities to what a human is able to be (40). Opportunity is Herschel’s second most important constitutive trait of human being as it is crucial to realizing human potential. Every occurrence in a human lifetime provides the opportunity for growth, development and the ultimate fulfillment of destiny. Without opportunity, it is not possible for a human to set or even achieve any goals, an endeavor that is essential to a meaningful human life. Opportunity allows individuals to define themselves, broaden who they are, and shape who they become. Opportunity also allows a person to discover and embellish personal uniqueness to benefit all of humanity. Although essential to meaningful human existence, the quality of
One of the aims of Being and Nothingness is to describe consciousness, or human subjectivity. Sartre distinguishes two different modes of consciousness in order to accurately describe human subjectivity. These two modes are being-for-itself and being-for-others. Being-for-itself refers to a transcendent conscious being (Oaklander, 238). Transcendence is the antithesis of facticity. I will describe facticity first, in order to make the concept of transcendence more tractable. Facticity denotes the concrete details of the subject’s being including past decisions, plac...
...gical argument for that of existence that parallels Wittgenstein’s investigations on the meanings of words. In my own life, I accept that my existence is largely ambiguous and that I am disclosing who I am every instant I make a choice, even if I direct that choice toward a goal. The indeterminate characteristic of ambiguity may make some uneasy when applying the word to their existence, but I find comfort in knowing that my existence can ultimately be defined as I see fit. I am glad that, through my own freedom, I am able to live and make sense of the world; I exist.
As presented in the Phenomenology of Spirit, the aim of Life is to free itself from confinement "in-itself" and thus to become "for-itself." Not only does Hegel place this unfolding of Life at the very beginning of the dialectical development of self-consciousness; Hegel characterizes self-consciousness itself as a form of Life and even refers us to the development of self-consciousness in the Master/Slave dialectic as an essential moment in the fulfillment of this aim of Life to become 'for-itself.' The following paper delineates this overlooked thread of the dialectic. The central thesis is that each step along the path of self-consciousness' attempt at making the truth of its unity with itself explicit, is simultaneously a step in the realization of the aim of Life: to become 'for-itself.' In the review of the Master/Slave dialectic, it reveals itself that the necessary condition for the fulfillment of Life's aim lies in work. Yet...
Existentialism is the epitome of the unknown. There is no straightforward explanation of what exactly it is, there is only certain characteristics and behaviors that describe existentialist views. Throughout today’s world, there are examples of it everywhere, it’s found in movies, books, songs, and just people in general. Existentialists are known to think and do for themselves only. They believe that to understand what it means to be human requires understanding of themselves first. Some very well known pieces of entertainment existentialism is found in are: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Breakfast Club by John Hughes. The Stranger is a book written about a young man whose mother dies, which soon leads him to becoming acquainted with the feeling of not caring about what his actions do to others or himself. The main character Meursault starts helping his friend Raymond, carry out ways to torment his mistress. Out of nowhere while at the beach, Meursault shoots Raymond’s mistress’s brother. He is thrown into jail and tried, but he seems to not be affected as much as he should about his actions. He first finds it hard to live without cigarettes, women, and nature, but he soon finds out he doesn’t need any of those. After being sentenced to death, he is suggested to turn away from his atheism but later realizes that human existence has no greater meaning. This realization and acceptance is what truly makes him happy (Camus). Next, The Breakfast Club is a very relatable movie about high school students suffering the consequences of their actions in detention. The kids are all of ...
Zora Neal Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, reveals one of life’s most relevant purposes that stretches across cultures and relates to every aspect of enlightenment. The novel examines the life of the strong-willed Janie Crawford, as she goes down the path of self-discovery by way of her past relationships. Ideas regarding the path of liberation date all the way back to the teachings of Siddhartha. Yet, its concept is still recycled in the twenty-first century, as it inspires all humanity to look beyond the “horizon,” as Janie explains. Self-identification, or self-fulfillment, is a theme that persists throughout the book, remaining a quest for Janie Crawford to discover, from the time she begins to tell the story to her best friend, Pheoby Watson. Hurston makes a point at the beginning of the novel to separate the male and female identities from one another. This is important for the reader to note. The theme for identity, as it relates to Janie, carefully unfolds as the story goes on to expand the depths of the female interior.
Jean shows a deeper meaning of the Idea of being and Nothingness, to understand his theory it must be viewed from a different perspective like viewed from another