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Single Idea 21952

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 3. Angst ]

Full Idea

For Heidegger, as a consequence of my anxiety in the face of death, I am set free to live my life as my own rather than doing things merely because others expect me to do them.

Gist of Idea

Anxiety about death frees me to live my own life

Source

report of Martin Heidegger (Being and Time [1927]) by Mark Wrathall - Heidegger: how to read 7

Book Ref

Wrathall,Mark: 'Heidegger: how to read' [Granta 2005], p.70

A Reaction

Contrary to Epicurus, Heidegger thinks anxiety about death is a good thing. The point is, I suppose, that we all die alone, and people who are very socially contrained need to face up to death in order to grasp their autonomy.

The 37 ideas from 'Being and Time'

9273 Heidegger turns to 'Being' to affirm the uniqueness of humans in the world [Heidegger, by Gray]
22223 Being-in-the-world is projection to possibilities, thrownness among them, and fallenness within them [Heidegger, by Caputo]
15569 Heidegger says truth is historical, and never absolute [Heidegger, by Polt]
21897 Reducing being to the study of beings too readily accepts the modern scientific view [Heidegger, by May]
21949 Having thoughts and feelings need engagement in the world [Heidegger, by Wrathall]
22222 Dasein finds itself already amongst others [Heidegger, by Caputo]
21952 Anxiety about death frees me to live my own life [Heidegger, by Wrathall]
22224 Anxiety is the uncanniness felt when constantly fleeing from asserting one's own freedom [Heidegger, by Caputo]
20453 Heidegger says we must either choose an inauthentic hero, or choose yourself as hero [Heidegger, by Critchley]
22157 Dasein is a mode of Being distinguished by concern for its own Being [Heidegger]
22158 Pheomenology seeks things themselves, without empty theories, problems and concepts [Heidegger]
15580 There are no raw sense-data - our experiences are of the sound or colour of something [Heidegger]
15573 For us, Being is constituted by awareness of other sorts of Being [Heidegger]
15574 'Logos' really means 'making something manifest' [Heidegger, by Polt]
15572 Being what it is (essentia) must be conceived in terms of Being (existence) [Heidegger]
22159 If we posit 'I' as the starting point, we miss the mind's phenomenal content [Heidegger]
22164 When Dasein grasps something it exists externally alongside the thing [Heidegger]
22160 Our relationship to a hammer strengthens when we use [Heidegger]
22161 Readiness-to-hand defines things in themselves ontologically [Heidegger]
15576 Heidegger seeks a non-traditional concept of essence as 'essential unfolding' [Heidegger, by Polt]
22162 There is an everyday self, and an authentic self, when it is grasped in its own way [Heidegger]
15577 Moods are more fundamentally revealing than theories - as when fear reveals a threat [Heidegger, by Polt]
15578 Propositions don't provide understanding, because the understanding must come first [Heidegger, by Polt]
8137 Dasein is ahead of itself in the world, and alongside encountered entities [Heidegger]
22165 Anxiety reveals the possibility and individuality of Dasein [Heidegger]
22163 The scandal of philosophy is expecting to prove reality when the prover's Being is vague [Heidegger]
22166 Dasein has the potential to be itself, but must be shown this in the midst of ordinariness [Heidegger]
8136 If we work and play with other people, they are bound to be 'Dasein', intelligent agents [Heidegger, by Cooper,DE]
21951 In company with others one's Dasein dissolves, and even the others themselves dissolve [Heidegger]
20114 Everyone is other, and no one is himself [Heidegger]
20748 We do not add value to naked things; its involvement is disclosed in understanding it [Heidegger]
20745 'Dasein' expresses not 'what' the entity is, but its being [Heidegger]
7680 Ontology is possible only as phenomenology [Heidegger]
8134 The word 'dasein' is used to mean 'the manner of Being which man possesses', and also the human creature [Heidegger, by Cooper,DE]
20749 Perceived objects always appear in a context [Heidegger]
8135 'Dasein' is Being which is laid claim to, and which matters to its owner [Heidegger, by Cooper,DE]
21948 Dasein is being which can understand itself, and possess itself in a way allowing authenticity [Heidegger]