[lit-ideas] Re: Ontilogical vs. Onticological
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 01:04:33 -0400
John McCreery wrote:
"Would it be correct to say that Heidegger affirms the possibility of an
unmediated apprehension of Being, once the confusion induced by
purpose-filled desire is stilled?"
For Heidegger there is no unmediated encounter of Being. In fact, it is
not clear whether it makes any sense to talk of Being apart from beings.
All knowledge and understanding is grounded in experience and so any
experience of Being is necessarily a mediated experience. But this is
perhaps too Kantian an answer. For the Heidegger of _Being and Time_,
human beings are always human beings living in the world. The limits of
understanding are the limits of human historicity and particularity.
One does not hear sound waves, but a motorcycle or birds. For the later
Heidegger, human beings are the ones to whom the world opens. Here the
limits of understanding are the limits the world imposes on human
beings. The warmth of a roaring fire in a fireplace in the cold of
winter makes us feel restful and at home. This is Being reaching out to
us, grasping us through things. Here, Being is the initiator and it is
we who can merely respond. One image Heidegger uses is that of our
always being in the footsteps of the gods who have already passed by.
There certainly are ways of living that make it very difficult to hear
Being in beings, but the path is not one of leaving behind things.
Rather, following the path left behind by Being is always a matter of
recognizing the participation of particular beings in Being. One aims
not to leave the world, but rather to allow the world to unfold as
truthfully as possible. Instead of turning away from the world,
Heidegger would have us care about it.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
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