Heidegger

That Pete wrote:

>Joseph Polanik wrote:

>>That Pete wrote:

>>>Joseph Polanik wrote:

>>>>do you really think that Heidegger and Plato are asking the same
>>>>question concerning the structure of the human individual?

>>>My answer is no.

>>well, then, does it not follow that there is a place where the road
>>forks — a point where one path leads to asking the question that
>>Heidegger asks while the other path leads to asking the question that
>>Plato asks?

>>if so, would you not also agree that one might wisely choose to
>>describe the ground he stands upon before choosing a path by which to
>>proceed from there?

>I think with circa 100 volumes published, Heidegger’s quite capable of
>describing his own ground. There’s a need for introductions for
>neophytes, and experts can debate the nuances in Heidegger’s texts, but
>there’s no need for Pete’s description or interpretation of Heidegger’s
>ground.

Pete, I detect an evasive answer served up in icy tone; but, in any
event, its obvious that many people do, in fact, see a need to identify
the point at which the road forks — the point at which Heidegger
leaves a shared starting point, the common ground.

what is that common ground?

it seems to me:

[1]. that any reasonable person would/could assert the CPI: I know that
I am; but, not what I am.

[2]. that the natural follow-up question is: what am I?

when asking this question at the beginning on an inquiry into the
structure of the human individual, one knows that a human individual
contains a human body and an instance of reflective self-awareness; and,
so the question becomes: is there anything more?

in my terminology, this is the question of Being: is there Being?

as we know, Plato answered in the affirmative.

clearly, Heidegger disagrees with Plato; but, what’s important is that
he gives no grounds for taking this position. he does not ask ‘is there
Being? is there anything more to a human individual that its physical
body and its phenomenological experiencer?

there is no asking. there is no questionning. there is only … assuming
an answer instead of asking the question.

now, for someone such as Heidegger who made such a point about
questioning, it seems rather odd that he would leave such a significant
question unasked, its answer merely assumed.

Joe

–
Philosophy is, after all, done ultimately in the first person for the
first person. — H-N Castaneda

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 http://what-am-i.net
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Posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
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