Wednesday, April 1, 2009

No Easy Task

"the philosopher's task, then, will not be to deny, to conceal or to break the circle (regarding understanding being). On the contrary, ...the effort should much rather be to seek to leap into the "circle" in an original and thorough-going way, in order that from the very beginning of the analysis of There-being one gain the full view of the circular character of its Being...Notice that the task involves effort, and this effort involves an initial "leap"". pg 42

I found this passage illuminating because I have been struggling to understand what exactly There-being is (among other concepts discussed in the chapter) and this passage seems to say that it is normal to not understand. Rather, the philosopher must make a 'leap' into the unknown to comprehend the the concept. "To fail to make with him (Heidegger) the initial leap into the circular structure of There-being is to render any sympathetic understanding impossible" (pg 42).

I understand that I by no means understand this concept, but I'm having a difficult making this 'leap'. Can anyone make There-being make sense to me before my understanding becomes impossible?

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