Knowing thyself in a contemporary context

a fresh look at Heideggerian authenticity

Steven Burgess

Casey Rentmeester

pp. 31-43

in: Hans Pedersen, Megan Altman (eds), Horizons of authenticity in phenomenology, existentialism, and moral psychology, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

The authors provide an analysis of Heidegger's critique of the narrowness of the modern worldview, and the modern self in particular, in an attempt to understand what the meaning of human existence is for Heidegger. Heidegger criticizes the prevalent view of the self as divorced from the world and from others, showing that the nature of human being involves immersion in the world as a fundamentally social entity. While commentators on Heidegger often juxtapose the early Heidegger with the later Heidegger, the authors show a cord of resonance with the early Heideggerian concept of authenticity [Eigentlichkeit] and the later Heideggerian notion of dwelling [wohnen], thereby providing a coherent interpretation of authenticity in Heidegger's thought by focusing on the structural similarities between the two. The authors argue in the end that Heidegger's notion of dwelling among things of significance provides a contemporary version of what it means to "know thyself" today.

Cited authors

Heidegger Martin