Continental Philosophy

Heidegger on Being-in-the-World (i): The World

Primary Sources:

Heidegger, Being and Time, Part One, Division One: Introduction and Sections I, III, and IV

Secondary Sources:

R. Schmitt, Heidegger on Being Human, chapters 1 - 3
H. Dreyfus, Being-in-the-World, Introduction and chapters 3 - 8
F. Olafson, Heidegger and the Philosophy of Mind, part I, chapters 1, 2
D. Cooper, Existentialism, chapter 4, pp. 57 - 66
C. Macann, Four Phenomenological Philosophers, pp. 70 - 82
J. MacQuarrie, Existentialism, chapter 4
M. Murray (ed.), Heidegger and Modern Philosophy, essay 5

Questions:

What is the importance of the notion of 'equipment' or 'gear' in Heidegger's analysis of "the worldhood of the world"? According to Heidegger, we encounter entities either as ready-to-hand or as present-at-hand. How do these modes of Being differ? What makes readiness-to-hand more primordial that presence-at-hand? In which way does science encounter entities? Dasein's basic state of Being is conceived by Heidegger as Being-in-the-world. How is Being-in-the-world related to the concepts of ready-to-hand and present-at-hand? How is an entity constituted as ready-to-hand?

What is wrong with the 'Cartesian' analysis of 'worldhood' (res extensa)?

What is "The They" [das Man] and what role does it play in the constitution of the world? What does Heidegger mean when he claims that "when Dasein is absorbed in the world of its concern... it is not itself"? Can Dasein fully escape das Man?

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