Dasein

From Geography

Dasein is a term often used by the german philosopher Heidegger In plain English it can be translated as ‘being-there’, and Heidegger was interested in what this term actually means. In his work he tries to figure out which the fundamental meaning of `being´ could be. `Being´ in this sence cannot be understand as just being somewhere, as being there. It must be understood in the sence of a real existence. Things are just there but people exist. “If Being is predicated in manifold meanings, then what is its leading fundamental meaning? What does Being mean? (Heidegger, 1963) Thus Heidegger actually suggest that there are many kinds of Being. This study of the Being of the human individual, the human being, he called Dasein. He was interested in the human beings own sense of ‘Being’ in the world. (Cloke, Philo, Sadler 1991) According to Heidegger Dasein responds to the past, in the context of the present, for the sake of the future.

References:

Cloke, P., Philo, C., Sadler, D., (1999) Approaching Human Geography. Chapman, London

Martin Heidegger. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/259513/Martin-Heidegger

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