Heidegger refers to human beings as dasein -- we are thrown into being.
What this means is that we find ourselves already part of the world. This point is important to remember. We often like to think of the human being out of context. A human being is a rational animal, becomes a focus on reason. But whence reason? From our animal nature. And whence that nature? From the very world of which we are a part.
We always already find ourselves, as Heidegger would say, in situation with certain problems/challenges, certain tools/gifts, and certain goals/desires. This is a very Aristotelian and Thomistic way of thinking, I think. We have desires and live in society which both shapes and is shaped by those desires. And in that society we face certain obligations and challenges, whether we are poor, middle class, or rich. And we have certain talents we can use in meeting those desires or choosing not to meet them and finding some others.
This notion of thrownness is captured in the notion of tradition. We are born in a tradition -- as part of a family with a particular role to play. We are not Athena born full grown from the head of Zeus. We are not created by God as some protoplasm without any relation to anything. God makes us as human persons already engaged in the world in a particular way.
Everything else follows from that
About Me
- Jeffery Nicholas
- I'm married to the most intelligent and beautiful woman in the world, and we have three equally intelligent and beautiful daughters (who one day will take care of me in my old age) and three cats (at least two too many). I teach philosophy at a Catholic seminary. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky (Go Wildcats!). My research focuses on questions of philosophical anthropology, ethics, and politics, though I dabble in many fields. My major influences include Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, Alasdair MacIntyre, the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, and Theodor Schatzki. I am currently working on a book dealing with the philosophy of human nature. The posts in this blog will focus on the questions which I come across as I work on the book. In short, I started the blog to motivate me to write every week. But I am also interested in what other people think about my thoughts here. Finally, I am also working on fiction, with a few short stories on the market. I have just finished (August 2007) my first novel which needs editing. To find out more about me, please see my website: http://jefferynicholas.googlepages.com/welcome
3 comments:
Wonderful to think of the individual dignity that each human life contains. The thought of each and every human having a specific purpose and reason for being brought into existence. Amazing thought.
To engage in the world would require a conscious decision to pay attention to the surrounding environment. Whatever tradition one may be born in still would involve the human to actively learn what that "system" means. An effort for total immersion in the culture may prove beneficial in the long run.
Interesting to reflect on how many billions of different roads a life may travel, depending on how each human listens to their conscience. Hopefully, every choice made should have some goal/end in sight.
Listening and learning from what we hear seems to be a critical aspect of life.
Kind of like being thrown into the a river with a goal to get to the opposite side upstream from where we were thrown in. If we just swim straight towards the other side, the current of desire/culture/nature will take us downstream and we won't arrive at our desired destination. If we swim with the current we will be taken even further from the orignal goal. If we swim directly against the current we will get exhausted and eventually succumb. It is only by steering a course that appropriately compensates for the desire/culture/nature that we can reach the desired upstream point.
At one time I thought why me? Why am I Marco? Why am I hispanic and not chinese, Canadian or any other race. It is wonderful to think about it. Is it natural Selection. Did God want to really make me hispanic or was he debating whether to make me European with a talent no one else has in the world or no talent. I guess I will never know. But I know I am happy the way I am. It is true people have certain talents that can be used to meet desires or not to meet them. where does these talents come from. Do we all have the same intelligence, it just that someof us are slow in unfolding it. "Where" is the question? Where do these problems/challenges, certain tools/gifts we recieve come from. The only way to find out is to get throught he problems and use our talents and gifts to the best of our ability and at the end hopefully a solution will arise.
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