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10 - Could anything be more intelligible than everyday intelligibility? Reinterpreting division I of Being and Time in the light of division II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

James E. Faulconer
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Utah
Mark A. Wrathall
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Utah
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

It has always seemed to me that the text of a thinker is only worth studying if reading it makes a significant difference in how we see the world and ourselves. Our job as commentators, is to clarify the text and bring out its relevance. But how does one go about clarifying and applying a thinker like Heidegger? Since Heidegger, unlike contemporary analytic philosophers who attempt to give a logical analysis of concepts, always attempts to anchor his discussion in the phenomena, I try to use his text to draw attention to pervasive phenomena that are often overlooked, and then use an elaboration of these phenomena to cast exegetical light on the text. Finally, I test the significance of the result by seeking to show the relevance of Heidegger's insights to issues of current concern. The following remarks are meant to demonstrate this approach.

AVERAGE VERSUS PRIMORDIAL UNDERSTANDING

Heidegger says that division I of Being and Time provides a phenomenology of average everydayness and so will have to be revised in the light of the authentic way of being he describes in division II. My attempt to write a commentary exclusively on division I was, therefore, criticized on the ground that I presented as Heidegger's view theses that were taken back in division II. None of the critical reviewers, however, said what my exclusive concentration on division I led me to get wrong.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

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