A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF MARTIN HEIDEGGER�S CONCEPT OF BEING
ABSTRACT
The central focus of this work is to critically evaluate Heidegger’s concept of being and other related issues. Being has been a very intriguing issue that has held philosophers spell bound over the years. Philosophers throughout the ages have tried to give it their own interpretation based on the way they have conceived it. Heidegger, in response to the problem of being, arose to develop a largely acceptable interpretation of what he conceives as being. Whether he succeeded would be an issue that would be treated in this project.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Tile Page – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgements – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – iv
Abstract – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -vi
Table of Contents – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – vii
CHAPTER ONE: General Introduction
Background of the study – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1
Statement of problem – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3
Purpose of study – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Significance of study – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Scope of study – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 5
Methodology – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6
Literature Review – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6
Endnotes – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 9
CHAPTER TWO: Heidegger in Historicity
Life and Work – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 10
Influences – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 12
General concept of Being – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 13
Endnotes——— 20
CHAPTER THREE: Heidegger on Being
The ontological error of western philosophy— 22
Heidegger’s fundamental ontology—– 23
Being and beings——–24
Being and Time——–27
Why is there something rather than nothing?—-31
The significance of unanswerable question—-34
Authentic and Inauthentic life——36
Endnotes———39
CHAPTER FOUR: Evaluation and Conclusion
The relevance of Being in Heidegger’s thought—-41
A critique on Heidegger (Merits and Demerits)— 44
The proper conception of Being——-46
Evaluation———47
Conclusions———48
Endnotes———49
Bibliography———50
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The central part of metaphysics is ontology; study of Being. The word ontology derives from the Greek word ‘On’ (in the plural ‘onta’), which is the present participle of ‘einai’, the verb ‘to be’. (Kenny 2010:160).
The founder of ontology was Parmenides and he defined it by placing the definite article “to” in front of the participle ‘on’. ‘To on’, literally ‘the being’, on the model of the living; means: All that is .it is customary, argues Kenny (2010:160), to translate the expression into English as (Being) with an initial capital. Without a capital, the English word ‘being’ has in philosophy two senses or uses, one corresponding to the Greek participle and one to Greek infinitive. A being, we can say, using the participle is an individual that is, whereas being (using the verbal noun) is, as it were, what any individual being is engaged in. The totality of individual being makes up being.
For Parmenides ‘Being is, and non-being is not, for Heraclitus Being is becoming, for Plato, Being exist in the world of ‘transcendental form’. For Aristotle, it is the study of anything that is, whether material or immaterial. For Thomas Aquinas, it refers to all that is and their ultimate support (ultimate principle). For some contemporary thinkers, being is abstract and refers to nothing concrete. It is therefore important to point out that the entire metaphysical journey is that of trying to understand being in this effort to explicate being, Heidegger the great German philosopher is not left out.
The problem which Heidegger sets out to investigate is not the problem of man but the problem of Being. He feels passionately that it is necessary to restate this ancient problem which has been neglected.
