Heidegger on Dwelling

Heidegger notes that buliding is the manner in which mortals dwell on earth. To dwell is more than to simply reside or have an address somewhere. To dwell requires a certain receptivity. To dwell requires to reveal the Fourfold. What is the fourfold? The fourfold is a unity of four different things. Each of the four parts of the fourfold can only be truly understood in relationship with the other parts. First, there are the mortals. Mortals dwell on this earth and have the capacity to regard their death as death; this just means that we can think of death not just as a stopping point of our lives but as something that unifies and brings meaning to our lives. We can imagine that our lives will end in the sense that a big project has come an end. Second, there is the earth. The earth is what nourishes us and sustains us. The earth is where we get the resources for our projects. Third is the sky. The sky represents open possibilities. Whereas the earth is grounded in practical possibilities, the sky is open. Fourth are divinities. Divinities are inherently beyond human comprehension.

To dwell, then, means to reveal these four things in association with one another. A peasant farmhouse makes a place to divinities to be welcomed as divinities--which means that we wait for divinities as something unknown. The roof of a farmhouse is steep to avoid snow building up. This represents a way in which dwelling requires the ability to be open to possibilities. Also, the farmhouse is placed on the protected side of a mountain. This shows how the dwelling takes advantage of practical possibilities already present on the earth. And this is a place of dwelling for mortals as it serves our human purposes.

Heidegger on Technology

When Heidegger talks about the 'essence of technology', he is not concerned with specific technologies (iPads, cell phones, hydroelectric dams, etc.). Rather, he is concerned with a technological attitude, or way of approaching things. In this sense, technology is a way of uncovering the truth about things. The traditional theory of truth is that sentences are true when they correspond to reality. Heidegger's theory of truth is that things are true when they are uncovered as themselves. Technology is one way of uncovering things. All acts of uncovering are dangerous. To uncover one thing is to cover up another thing. Think about digging a hole in the dirt. When you dig up one thing, the dirt you removed has to go somewhere. The kind of uncovering that characterizes the essence of technology is Gestell, or enframing. Enframing is a way of uncovering things that necessarily prevents other modes of uncovering and revealing. Technological enframing reveals all things as energy to be unlocked, transformed, transferred and stored.

Sartre

Sartre says that the basic premise of existentialism is that for humans, existence precedes essence.  In other words, a person must exist before she has an essence (character, personality). 

Existentialism has been accused of 1) emphasizing all that is despicable about humanity, 2) encouraging inaction and despair, 3) undermining the validity of human existence, and 4) undermining human solidarity by focusing on subjectivity.

In response to (1), Sartre says that existentialist fiction may seem more despicable because the characters in existentialist novels and play are presented as being responsible for their behavior.  In other words, villains are villains because they want to be terrible people (whereas other literature may present them as a victim of circumstance).

In response to (2), Sartre says that the kind of despair important to existentialism is the basis for action.  Despair is just what happens when you have a decision to make and you contemplate which option would be best.  The decision-making process is despair.  Also, according to existentialism, you are defined by your actions.  So someone who does not act is 'nobody'.

In response to (3), Sartre says that all projects have validity insofar as they are chosen by a free consciousness.  Although there may not be an external, eternal source of values, we can validate values in an intersubjective space.

In response to (4), Sartre points out that the 'subjectivity' existentialism is concerned with is an intersubjectivity.  This means that each individual is within a community and each person is constituted by his or her social connections.  There are no meaningful projects without social meanings.  So Sartre says that subjectivity (as intersubjectivity) should be understood not as individual consciuosness but our ability to go beyond individual consciousness.

Sartre Context

Like Descartes and Locke, Sarte is a dualist. He thinks there are only two kinds of substances that exist: Being and Nothingness. Being includes physical bodies in the world, including our own bodies. Nothingness is our consciousness. Nothingness determines itself and is radically free. Being is externally determined. As humans, we are both Being and Nothingness. Our consciousness is free even if our physical existence is determined by external forces. One of the results of our dual nature is bad faith. Bad faith means that you always tend to get wrapped up either in your Being or your Nothingness. If you think you have more freedom than you actually do, you're lost in your transcendence. If you think you have less freedom than you actually do, you're lost in your facticity. Bad faith is a basic structure for humanity. We cannot escape it.

Sartre recognizes that many people associate existentialism with despair. Indeed, this is not a necessary consequence of buying into the notion that for humans existence precedes essence (our actions define who we are). Rather, despair just seems to be a common response to the feelings of responsibility that arise when we recognize that we are in control of deciding our own character

Mill and Kant: Visit My Other Blog

Hello, there!

As I mentioned in class, you can find lots of useful posts about Mill and Kant on my other blog, ethicswithlouise.blogspot.com.

Connections to Other Materials

Here is a link to a Simon & Garfunkel song that deals with determinism in human life, called "Patterns".

This song, "Free Life", is from Dan Wilson.  The narrator of this song takes for granted that there is such a thing as a free life.

In this post, I relate determinism to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5.

Here I link to the implicit bias tests.  Is unconscious bias preventable?  Are we responsible for it?

Moral Responsibility Revisited

Here are many links to other posts about the readings for moral responsibility:

DoC vs PAP

PAP vs. PPP

Van Inwagen vs. Frankfurt

No True Scotsman Informal Fallacy

Heaven, Hell and Strawson

Strawson's Basic Argument & Responses to the Basic Argument

Shame vs. Guilt