VIII.

Man As Being-Towards-Death

Martin HeideggersDasein as a Being-Towards-Death

Man as Dasein (being-there), is never complete as long as man is alive
The wholeness of man (definition) happens at death (but ironically, man, as Dasein, is no
longer there)
But one cannot experience his/her own death (man is no longer there to experience it)
While one may witness another's death the dying of others is not something we can
experience in a genuine sense we, are at best, simply there alongside them.The phenomenon
of death cannot be represented by others in the sense that their death can represent or take
the place of my death.
The very possibility of 'representing' another's death is an impossibility we must begin to see
death as a possibility that is mine
Your death is yours alone
The problem of Death has been bound up with the existential structure of Dasein's BeingDasein
is a being-towards-death
Death must be seen as Dasein's uttermost 'not-yet.'
Death is Dasein'sownmost(eigenste-eigen lit. ownest own), non-relational (i.e., when
Dasein stands before itself as this possibility, all its relations to other Dasein become loosened)
and uttermost possibility.
Death reveals itself as
(1) Certain -- not in the sense of an empirical or logical certainty, but in an existential
signification: it is a truth of existence that Dasein dies.
(2)Indefinite -- this certainty of Death is indefinite with respect to its 'when.'
This certainty and indefiniteness of Death -- which is Dasein'sownmost, non-relational possibility
-- is the existential ontological meaning of Death.Death is disclosive inasmuch as it brings Dasein
back towards its ownmost self.
The characteristics which belong to this disclosure:
(1) Death is Dasein'sownmost possibility.
(2) Death is non-relational. Death individualizes Dasein. Dasein must be forced to 'take over' its
ownmostBeing.
(3) Death is not to be outstripped (surpassed): it is Dasein's uttermost possibility and must be
recognized as such. In doing so Dasein has 'freed' itself for its death and for its own possibilities.
(4) Death is certain.
(5) Death indefinite.
Death is mans ownmost, non-relational, not to be outstripped, certain and indefinite possibility
In the freeing of oneself for the possibility of one's own Death, Dasein has released itself form
the illusions (the concealment) of 'the they' and opens itself for the possibility of taking hold of
itself from itself. Such is the ontological possibility of authenticity.
When you know that you will die, you own your life and live it the way you want it to be (not as
others would want it to be) Heidegger calls this the authentic life
IX. Man and The Absolute

Gabriel Marcels Man and the Absolute Thou

Situation of dissatisfaction with existence and with human relationship (intersubjectivity)
Disappointment with others
A. the you becomes a he/she
B. the idealized other is not ideal at all
C. death takes away the other
D. the love of the other does not reach the depth of my being me
Elements of the complain:
The I needs a you
Man is born an actor, he needs an audience
1. The you does not satisfy the depths of the heart of the I
But the I cannot do otherwise, absence of the you is also destructive of the I
2. No one can take the I as the I itself (that is, no one can take me as I am)
I want another I but this I must be me
But that is humanly impossible
There must be a new source of value and meaning
A new partner that can satisfy the longing of the human heart is real for something that can
satisfy
That which the heart longs for exists, unless we accept a senseless longing of heart without any
answer
Pascal wager it is reasonable to risk acting on the chance that God exists (if I believe that God
exists and God exists, I gain eternal life; if I believe that God exists and God does not exist, I lose
nothing; but if I do not believe in God and God exists, I lose everything)
Dynamism of the belief in God is not any kind of wishful thinking
It is a pattern and trend of human thinking (it is an objectivity without objectification [object -
being the content of the act of thinking])
Is this ultimate source a subject or object?
Object? Obviously NO. Subject? Not like me or other persons (because they do not satisfy)
An absolute Thou, a Subject like no other that canbe spoken to
Others are definable essences, and since definable, cannot satisfy
The Thou is always a surprise a You that can accept me more than I accept myself, can assert
me more than I assert myself
Totally Other that this Thou is a perfect company
For Eastern religions interiority (God is inside, deeply inside); for Western religions
transcendence (God is outside, infinitely other)
For Marcel, fidelity is the speaking to the unseen, the active perpetuation of presence and the
renewal of its benefits
 Example: hear a band first, then later without the band, I listen to the music only but I know the
source the band; (Marcel on God) hear music first, keeps on repeating, comes nearer and
nearer, then I am in the face of the band, I followed the music until I am in the presence of the
source, the band this is fidelity
The absolute Thou is the answer to man
But this remains veiled in our present condition
A person needs other persons (not particular but only general, as a condition for existence)
God is different without God I cannot exist
Any definition of man without God included in the definition is absurd
All true definitions of man is found in Revelation (Sacred Scriptures) [where God is included]
Full stature of man is man related to God and his main source of value when his fellowmen fail
God is a Being who can communicate to us (if not, then God is not God)
Man and God exist coinciding with each other (existence is coinciding)

Conclusion

Man is always communal

Human life is always lived as WE
Community is the context of human life
The world is a community of subjects (not objects)
I am has sense only if the sense is we
An I-life is not a human life. Only a we-life is human life
For man is essentially a we
Kitawo is the sense of being man