{"id":584,"date":"2011-09-17T16:17:39","date_gmt":"2011-09-17T22:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/?p=584"},"modified":"2011-09-17T18:47:56","modified_gmt":"2011-09-18T00:47:56","slug":"being-and-time-part-1-division-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/?p=584","title":{"rendered":"Being and Time: Part 1, Division 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apologies on the late addition. Hopefully it’s not too garbled, and please feel free to discuss anything that strikes your fancy!<\/p>\n

\u00a712
\nDasein<\/em> & Authenticity<\/strong>
\nAt first Heidegger says\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0exists. Sure, sounds great. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.\u00a0Heidegger claims that there’s a basic difference between being and existing.\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0doesn’t JUST exist. It’s that ONLY Dasein<\/em> exists. Other things, objects like furniture, cars, books, etc.,\u00a0are<\/em>, but they do not exist in the strict sense of the word. Existence only comes into play with the realization of being. When a being becomes conscious of its own being, it begins to exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is such a being. It is the only being that can do this, cuz by definition\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is that which can question its own being.<\/p>\n

In addition,\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is whatever I happen to be.\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is always me, but it means we can only ever talk about\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0in the first person. This does seems to associate\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0with the “subject” and its disreputable connotations, but Heidegger is too careful to get stuck with standard philosophical terminology. Thus\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0cannot be another “subject,” and end up as another artifact of traditional philosophy.<\/p>\n

Dasein<\/em>\u00a0always exists in either of the following modes:\u00a0authenticity<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0non-authenticity<\/strong>, or is indifferent to them. What are these modes?\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is its possibilities, because the existence of\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0becomes determined through its possibilities. These possibilities allow it to choose; thus, it can either choose itself or not.\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0can also lose itself or never reach itself to begin with, or appear to reach itself but fall short. More interestingly, it is not the case that when\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0reaches itself, it becomes “authentic.” Rather, the possibility of losing oneself or not becoming\/reaching oneself is based on authenticity as well.<\/p>\n

It is important to understand that Heidegger explicitly says that non-authenticity is not somehow “lesser” being than authenticity. There are\u00a0no<\/em>\u00a0deficiencies. Being authentic is as important as being non-authentic. Then we should try to find out the authentic being of\u00a0Dasein<\/em>.<\/p>\n

An authentic piece of art is the actual piece, the original statue, and not the cheap copy in the museum store.<\/p>\n

Does that mean\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is authentic if it really is\u00a0Dasein<\/em>? What makes\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0Dasein<\/em><\/strong>? Best we can tell,\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0asks about its own being. Does that mean once\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is faced with the question of its being, only then is\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0proper, i.e., authentic? Otherwise, when\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0isn’t properly demonstrating this mode, is it non-authentic?<\/p>\n

It seems to me that\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is capable of other things than just asking question about its own being, but what makes it\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0and separate from other beings, is that precise ability.<\/p>\n

In-der-Welt-Sein vs In-Sein<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heidegger throws us off the deep end of Heideggerese with “Being-in-The-World” and “Being-In.” The former is the mode of being of\u00a0Dasein<\/em>, i.e.,\u00a0Dasein<\/em>\u00a0is in the world. More specifically, in order to understand\u00a0Dasein<\/em>, we must understand this being-in-the-world, and Heidegger lists three constituents:<\/p>\n