In this essay I aim to show what Heidegger believes is distinctive about anxiety in contrast to every other mood. To do this, I will start by describing Heidegger’s view on moods, before contrasting this with his thoughts on anxiety to show why he believes it is more significant and unique than any other. I will then provide an argument against this view to show how in fact Heidegger is not justified in thinking this due to his later view on profound boredom.
First, I will describe Heidegger’s view on mood. For Heidegger, Dasein has access to the world through two different modes. First, through understanding – Dasein understands entities in terms of possible uses. This is a practical understanding of ready-to-hand possibilities, which opens …show more content…
As Heidegger himself states, ‘anxiety reveals in Dasein its being toward its ownmost potentiality of being, that is, being free for the freedom of choosing and grasping itself.’ (Heidegger, 2009, p.233) In this quote, Heidegger shows how anxiety discloses the self as being separate from the world. It is when the self first distinguishes its self-awareness and recognises its freedom. This is how anxiety is most distinctive; it is the mood that reveals in Dasein its ability to be able to choose itself, which is something that no other mood can do. Anxiousness is the start of Dasein’s real existence, which includes Dasein’s individualisation and authenticity. Before feelings of anxiety, Dasein lived an inauthentic, limited life where it was defined by ‘readiness-to-hand’ and held an instrumental attitude towards things. Anxiety provides Dasein with away of escaping from this, as ‘in anxiety there lies the possibility of a disclosure which is quite distinctive; for anxiety individualizes. This individualization brings Dasein back from its falling, and makes manifest to it that authenticity and inauthenticity are possibilities of its Being.’ (Heidegger, 2009, p.235) Here, Heidegger shows anxiety to be a more distinctive mood in the fact it individualises Dasein. Anxiety allows Dasein to pull back from being ‘worlded’ (Dasein is …show more content…
In The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, Heidegger disregards the distinctiveness he once put on anxiety and replaces it with profound boredom. For Heidegger, profound boredom is now the means of accessing the meaning of Being because it is ‘the fundamental attunement.’ (Heidegger, 1995, p.80) This means that boredom is an insightful mood, which provides Dasein with the necessary base for finding the meaning of Being. From the feelings boredom creates of merely being-there, Dasein is opened up to the possibilities of realising the true nature of Being. This idea is similar to the way anxiety reveals the authentic possibilities of Being by withdrawing from the ready-to-hand world. Consequently, anxiety cannot be a more distinctive mood than boredom for Heidegger, as the two seem to provide similar effects on Dasein and so cannot be more distinctive than each other. This idea is supported by McKenzie who suggests that ‘anxiety and profound boredom clear the path for the self-appropriation of existence.’ (McKenzie, 2008, p.576) This self-awareness effect both moods have on Dasein results in Heidegger being unjustified in thinking
First, I will describe Heidegger’s view on mood. For Heidegger, Dasein has access to the world through two different modes. First, through understanding – Dasein understands entities in terms of possible uses. This is a practical understanding of ready-to-hand possibilities, which opens …show more content…
As Heidegger himself states, ‘anxiety reveals in Dasein its being toward its ownmost potentiality of being, that is, being free for the freedom of choosing and grasping itself.’ (Heidegger, 2009, p.233) In this quote, Heidegger shows how anxiety discloses the self as being separate from the world. It is when the self first distinguishes its self-awareness and recognises its freedom. This is how anxiety is most distinctive; it is the mood that reveals in Dasein its ability to be able to choose itself, which is something that no other mood can do. Anxiousness is the start of Dasein’s real existence, which includes Dasein’s individualisation and authenticity. Before feelings of anxiety, Dasein lived an inauthentic, limited life where it was defined by ‘readiness-to-hand’ and held an instrumental attitude towards things. Anxiety provides Dasein with away of escaping from this, as ‘in anxiety there lies the possibility of a disclosure which is quite distinctive; for anxiety individualizes. This individualization brings Dasein back from its falling, and makes manifest to it that authenticity and inauthenticity are possibilities of its Being.’ (Heidegger, 2009, p.235) Here, Heidegger shows anxiety to be a more distinctive mood in the fact it individualises Dasein. Anxiety allows Dasein to pull back from being ‘worlded’ (Dasein is …show more content…
In The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, Heidegger disregards the distinctiveness he once put on anxiety and replaces it with profound boredom. For Heidegger, profound boredom is now the means of accessing the meaning of Being because it is ‘the fundamental attunement.’ (Heidegger, 1995, p.80) This means that boredom is an insightful mood, which provides Dasein with the necessary base for finding the meaning of Being. From the feelings boredom creates of merely being-there, Dasein is opened up to the possibilities of realising the true nature of Being. This idea is similar to the way anxiety reveals the authentic possibilities of Being by withdrawing from the ready-to-hand world. Consequently, anxiety cannot be a more distinctive mood than boredom for Heidegger, as the two seem to provide similar effects on Dasein and so cannot be more distinctive than each other. This idea is supported by McKenzie who suggests that ‘anxiety and profound boredom clear the path for the self-appropriation of existence.’ (McKenzie, 2008, p.576) This self-awareness effect both moods have on Dasein results in Heidegger being unjustified in thinking