Heidegaar
Oksana Potapchik 1
J. Forsey
Phil 2010/3
Feb. 11th, 2015
Martin Heidegger Reading Response
Heidegger’s theory of the “Da-sein” is a deeply perplexing notion to perceive. In his text “Being and Time”, Heidegger coins new terminology that is extremely difficult to understand, in fact, it seems generates more questioning than it provides us with a solidified understanding of his theory of “being”. He suggest that we are merely pushed foreword into existence, directed on a path that is paved for us by people before us, that is not truly our own because we are born into a society that predetermines how we aught to be. It is only when we awaken our consciousness and question the nature of our being; we begin to formulate what it is to be a Da-sein. “And it is indeed signifies a peculiar possibility of being in which it is absolutely a matter of being of my own Da-sein.” (p. 305) it seems that because he is passionate about the idea of each person constructing their own personal path, through the realization of their eminent death, that leads him to actualize his unique self through the invention of new vocabulary. According to Heidegger, having a sense of primordial self as an unfinished project is an inescapablehuman condition. Da-sein is described by Heidegger as the identity of a human being that always “related to its potentiality” (p. 300). Instead of viewing the human as an entity that is whole, Heidegger views it in terms of having “a constant unfinished quality” to it (p. 300). Heidegger argues that an unprecedented “lack” follows
2 us from not being able to grasp the totality of its existence. This view of the self as “always already its not-yet” doesn’t resonate with me because I like to perceive my life’s
J. Forsey
Phil 2010/3
Feb. 11th, 2015
Martin Heidegger Reading Response
Heidegger’s theory of the “Da-sein” is a deeply perplexing notion to perceive. In his text “Being and Time”, Heidegger coins new terminology that is extremely difficult to understand, in fact, it seems generates more questioning than it provides us with a solidified understanding of his theory of “being”. He suggest that we are merely pushed foreword into existence, directed on a path that is paved for us by people before us, that is not truly our own because we are born into a society that predetermines how we aught to be. It is only when we awaken our consciousness and question the nature of our being; we begin to formulate what it is to be a Da-sein. “And it is indeed signifies a peculiar possibility of being in which it is absolutely a matter of being of my own Da-sein.” (p. 305) it seems that because he is passionate about the idea of each person constructing their own personal path, through the realization of their eminent death, that leads him to actualize his unique self through the invention of new vocabulary. According to Heidegger, having a sense of primordial self as an unfinished project is an inescapablehuman condition. Da-sein is described by Heidegger as the identity of a human being that always “related to its potentiality” (p. 300). Instead of viewing the human as an entity that is whole, Heidegger views it in terms of having “a constant unfinished quality” to it (p. 300). Heidegger argues that an unprecedented “lack” follows
2 us from not being able to grasp the totality of its existence. This view of the self as “always already its not-yet” doesn’t resonate with me because I like to perceive my life’s