FREE ESSAY ON HEIDEGGERS CONCEPTUAL ESSENCES

HEIDEGGERS CONCEPTUAL ESSENCES

Heideggers Conceptual Essences: Being and the Nothing, Humanism, and Technology Being and
the Nothing are the same. The ancient philosopher Lao-tzu believed that the world
entertains no separations and that opposites do not actually exist. His grounding for
this seemingly preposterous proposition lies in the fact that because alleged opposites
depend on one another and their definitions rely on their differences, they cannot
possibly exist without each other. Therefore, they are not actually opposites. The simple
and uncomplex natured reasoning behind this outrageous statement is useful when trying to
understand and describe Martin Heideggers deeply leveled philosophy of Being and the
nothing. Lao-tzus uncomplicated rationale used in stating that supposed opposites create
each other, so cannot be opposite, is not unlike Heideggers description of the similarity
between the opposites Being and the nothing. Unlike Lao-tzu, Heidegger does not claim
that no opposites exist. He does however say that two obviously opposite concepts are the
same, and in this way, the two philosophies are similar. He believes that the separation
of beings from Being creates the nothing between them. Without the nothing, Being would
cease to be. If there were not the nothing, there could not be anything, because this
separation between beings and Being is necessary. Heidegger even goes so far as to say
that Being itself actually becomes the nothing via its essential finity. This statement
implies a synonymity between the relation of life to death and the relation of Being to
nothingness. To Heidegger, the only end is death. It is completely absolute, so it is a
gateway into the nothing. This proposition makes Being and the nothing the two halves of
the whole. Both of their roles are equally important and necessary in the cycle of life
and death. Each individual life inevitably ends in death, but without this death, Life
would be allowed no progression: The nothing does not merely serve as the counterconcept
of beings; rather, it originally belongs to their essential unfolding as such (104).
Likewise, death cannot occur without finite life. In concordance with the statement that
the nothing separates beings from Being, the idea that death leads to the nothing implies
that death is just the loss of the theoretical sandwich's bread slices, leaving nothing
for the rest of ever. The existence of death, therefore, is much more important in the
whole because it magnifies the nothing into virtually everything. The magnification of
the nothing serves as an equalizer between Being and nothing because Being is so robust
and obvious that it magnifies itself. In this case, the opposites are completely reliant
on each other, not only conceptually but physically. Heidegger gives new meaning to
Lao-tzus philosophy that opposites define each other when he tries to uncover the true
essence and meaning of Being, and he reveals another level of intertwination between the
nothing and Being. In order to define Being, it is mandatory to step outside of it, into
the nothing because: Everything we talk about, mean, and are related to in such and such
a way is in Being. What and how we are ourselves are is also in Being. Being is found in
thatness and whatness, reality, the being at hand of things [Vorhandenheit], subsistence,
validity, existence [Dasein], and in the there is [es gibt] (47). Heidegger is very
adamant on the importance of unbiased judgments and definitions, and how could he
possibly calculate the exact meaning of Being while viewing it from a state of Being?
Thus it is necessary to step out into the nothing to fully comprehend Being. For this
reason, human beings are the only beings capable of pondering the essence of existence
and nonexistence. Dasein are the only creatures capable because they are held out into
the nothing: Being and the nothing do belong together . . . because Being itself is
essentially finite and reveals itself only in the transcendence of Dasein which is held
out into the nothing (108).
Bibliography
1. some Heidegger book