Martin Heidegger

Three philosophers, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Emmanuel Levinas, experienced Nazi Germany, and each had their own philosophical ideas. “Martin Heidegger’s authenticity dealt with one’s relationship to one’s own form of existence.”(Rosenstand) Heidegger was German, a member of the National Socialist Party, and later became member of the Nazi Party for professional reasons. It’s difficult to decipher if Heidegger’s philosophical ideas were effected during WWII, but the fact that his mentor and teacher Edmund Husserl, a Jew, influenced Heidegger’s way of thinking makes me want to believe he was not influenced by the place, time, and events of his time. Understanding his philosophy would be much easier if spoken German, in my opinion,…

will analyze and evaluate Heidegger’s view of practical “existential” spatiality starting with §22-24 of Martin Heidegger’s text, Being and Time. This involves his concept of practical spatiality in the world as it relates to us. However, Heidegger in his earlier works seems to be missing a key element for his view. Dasein views things as practically close or far away from themselves in relation to the object and reaching a goal. Heidegger came up with the concept of closing-in-on handy…

Throughout history phenomenology have been use is various contents but was not given a name. Edmund Husserl gave phenomenology a name and life. Husserl and three other phenomenologists, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty, discovered different conceptions, different methods, and different results of phenomenology. The Encyclopedia of Phenomenology notes seven types of phenomenology: 1) Transcendental constitutive phenomenology, 2) Naturalistic constitutive phenomenology, 3) Existential…

confusing happenings we come across, whether by way of our own living, or through the lives of others, into the realm of understanding. There is a tendency and a desire to make sense of elements in our experiences, and this process of making sense is not boundless, but restricted to what we already know. We can make any idea fit seemingly logically with our understanding of the world and how it works. I don’t think it’s surprising then that through our desire to understand all aspects of life,…

choice that maximizers spend much time and energy with. To further show why satisficing is the better option, I will argue that people can never truly have complete control or authority over their own happiness. In The Questions Concerning Technology, Martin Heidegger argues something similar, as he highlights the pitfalls of mankind’s belief that modern technology is something to be controlled and mastered to serve a purpose. To understand the argument, we must know what it means to…

Martin Heidegger, brings about a complex way of defining a being and time. He tries to analyze the world around him and tries to study the underlying nature of things in this world. He uses words that a reader knows as one definition and uses another definition for that word. He makes the readers truly think about what the real definition of a being is and what it means to be a being. There is a peculiarity of ready-to-hand equipment and it is that, it must withdraw in order to be authentic.…

Heidegger sought to radicalize the traditional understanding of what it means to be human and the transform the ‘common sense’ approach held by the tradition by reawakening the question of the meaning of being; however, he arrived too early. Even though his unfinished edifice was successfully nailed on the door of Cartesian tradition long ago; the discussion fell, and is still falling, upon deaf ears. This split with the tradition led him to a disagreement with his old master Edmund Husserl…

The Relationship Between Three Existential Ideas from Heidegger’s Being and Time to the Life of Colleen, a Junior at Fairfield University This essay highlights Martin Heidegger’s work and his ideas of “being-with,” “inauthentic Da-sein,” and “the they.” After explaining these existential ideas, the essay demonstrates the relationship between these ideas and the academic, athletic, and social life of Colleen, a junior at Fairfield University. The paper displays how significant these aspects…

Philosophology The first thing that comes to mind while writing a paper about philosophy is “why”. The irony in this is that this is what philosophy is about—asking the “why”. Philosophers question the ideas that people often skip past. These questions, no matter how frustrating or mind numbing, can be some of the most important ones we contemplate. Although there is no definitive answer, it is still necessary to question the who, what, and whys of life. From pondering these types of…

Though brief and comedic, Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit” offers insight into the basic ideas of his philosophy about freedom vs confinement. Sartre is able to portray the applicability of this philosophy to daily life though the commonplace setting of the work and the diversity of the basic character types found throughout the play. The main principles behind this one of Sartre’s philosophies are detailed through the three main characters, Cradeau Inez and Estelle, and their confinement to a…