Human Mortality According to Heidegger Essay - 3641 Words

Human Mortality According to Heidegger Martin Heidegger (1889 -- 1976) was, and still is considered to be, along with the likes of Soren Kierkegaard, Edmund Husserl and Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the principal exponents of 20th century Existentialism. An extraordinarily original thinker, a critic of technological society and the leading Ontologist of his time, Heideggers philosophy became a primary influence upon the thoughts of the younger generations of continental European cultural personalities of his time. The son of a Catholic sexton, Heidegger displayed an early interest in religion and philosophy; at school he began an intensive study of the late 19th century Catholic philosopher Franz Brentano and, as we shall see, Brentanos†¦show more content†¦Indeed, Heideggers comments upon existential themes such as anxiety, distress and care were not meant as psychological or anthropological comments or propositions. Instead, they were specifically proposed as philosophical (or, more accurately, ontological) statements and phenomenological observations. Remembering the influence of Brentano and Aristotle, we will see that Heideggers principle philosophical concern was the disclosure of the various ways of Being and particularly, Human Being. In 1927, Heidegger astonished the German philosophical domain with the publication of his magnum opus Sein und Zeit , a work that, although almost unreadable, was immediately felt to be of primary importance. Perhaps partly due to its intriguingly difficult style, the book was acclaimed as a very deep and important work not only in German speaking countries but also in Latin countries, where Phenomenology had already been popularised. It strongly influenced Jean-Paul Sartre (although, as with Husserl, Sartres phenomenological ontology concentrated more upon consciousness than Heidegger believed was necessary). Despite his protestations, Heidegger was classed, on the strength of Being and Time as the leading atheistic Existentialist. However, the book received a colder reception in England and its influence was negligible for several decades. In order to understand the above titled question, we must first attempt to understand some of the fundamental points that defineShow MoreRelatedBeing And Time By Martin Heidegger2329 Words   |  10 PagesBeing and Time, by Martin Heidegger, represents an attempt at fundamental ontology. Moreover, Being and Time is an inquiry into the fundamental question of being via employing a method known as phenomenology, which involves reflecting upon and interpreting every day experiences to reveal its latent meaning and structure. For Heidegger, inquiring into the nature of being this way is vitally important because the question of being implicitly subtends all other lines of intellectual inquiry, such asRead MoreAnalysis Of Negotiating Problematic Identity Essay1573 Words   |  7 PagesTadzio. His love for the boy is seen as the culmination of his decline both as an artist and as a human being. Phenomenology is concerned with the ways in which people experience their lives and with the mental structures that give meaning to those experiences. Edmund Husserl believed that it is futile to attempt to understand either the mind or the world in isolation from one another. According to him, there exists an interdependent realtionship between the mind and the world. He also saysRead MoreThe As A Sense Of Wholeness1177 Words   |  5 Pagescomprehension of mortality has been a leading concern on the agendas of a myriad of disciplines. As temporal beings, humans are given an entire lifetime to attempt to conceptualize and rationalize the idea of death, or the moment of no longer existing in the physical realm. According to Martin Heidegger, in order to discover ‘what man is’, we must grasp the essential being (Dasein) in its wholeness (Heidegger ⠝ ¡9). Dasein’s structure must be understood primordially as always being a whole. Humans spend theirRead Mor eThe Epic Poem Gilgamesh 1748 Words   |  7 Pagesthe works of famous philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Buber, and Heidegger. Therefore making the poem pertain well to everyday life of modern humans, which may not be expected from such a historic text. However, Enkidu is an interesting subject to view in the poem, as it seems that the â€Å"existentials† are forced upon him, and these ultimately lead to his death. Enkidu initially is naturally moral and happy, but both Gilgamesh and human consciousness lead his naturalness to be ruined, as is demonstratedRead MoreSnapshot1702 Words   |  7 Pagespsychoanalytic theories were presented in untestable form. Psychology departments in American universities today are scientifically oriented, and Freudian theory has been marginalized, being regarded instead as a desiccated and dead historical artifact, according to a recent APA study. Recently, however, South African neuroscientist Mark Solms and other researchers in the emergin g field of neuro-psychoanalysis have argued for Freuds theories, pointing out brain structures relating to Freudian concepts suchRead MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 Pagestheir lives. Existentialism asserts that â€Å"existence precedes essence,† which is in opposition to the classical doctrine that â€Å"essence precedes existence.† The claim â€Å"existence precedes essence† is a rejection of the idea that human nature has an end or goal. In this sense, humans are free to choose their own destiny.   * is a philosophical term which asserts that there is a distinction between essential and non-essential (contingent or accidental) characteristics of an object. Essentialism assumesRead MoreFate and Destiny7886 Words   |  32 Pagesbiology. This paper will concentrate on some of the historical thinkers who have contrasted fate and destiny as well as point out some of the important issues implied by those thinkers. But first, the definitions of both terms will be evaluated. According to an online Greek translation service (Craine, 2004), fate and destiny in ancient Greek came from exactly the same word: moira. This may suggest that the ancients saw little or no difference between the terms in their own times. In Latin, the wordRead More Existentialist Views on Death Essay5673 Words   |  23 Pageswriters, in terms of paradoxes (Akram). Soren Kierkegaard, the first philosopher to refer to himself as existential, developed a philosophy in reaction to the absolute idealism of G. W. F. Hegel. Instead of claiming a rational understanding of the human situation, Kierkegaard stressed the ambiguity and absurdity of it. He asserted that the only way to survive in this situation is for an individual to lead a totally committed life, where this commitment could only be understood by the individual. A