Hubert Dreyfus on Husserl and Heidegger: Section 4

In contrast to empiricist and rationalist traditions, existentialism proposes and orderless world, vaguely hostile, where people choose their character goals, have an obligation only to "authentic," and may only observe the truth (reality) in moments of anxiety. In this program, University of California, Berkeley philosopher Herbert Dreyfus traces the roots of existentialism from Edmund Husserl's School of Phenomenology, to his pupil Martin Heidegger's theories of das Sein, the threefold structure of activity, authenticity, and nihilism. Dreyfus relates the philosophies of both en to present-day schools of thought.

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Education

Tags:

• Bryan
• Magee
• Hubert
• Dreyfus
• Edmund
• Husserl
• Martin
• Heidegger
• Philosophy
• Existentialism
• Phenomenology
• Authenticity
• Nihilism

[regalkidney]

I think it's not uncommon for scholars to refer to Dreyfus's Heidegger as "Dreifegger" (they do the same thing with Kripke's Wittgenstein "Kripkenstein").

This is a way of indicating that the interpretation is idiosyncratic and departs from the original Heidegger. But it also indicates that the hybrid creature has a vitality of its own. Personally, I much prefer Dreifegger to Heidegger.

[GeorgesBarras]

The description of the dasein in anxiety, 'stick with things and not getting stuck' - I experienced this epiphany myself several years ago; I do indeed feel liberated.

[bigturtlehand]

UGH...philosophy. 

[TheDavid2222]

I was thinking, and I came up with an idea on aesthetics. Heidegger describes the authentic person as one who leads an "independent" life. An independent life comes with anxiety but is seperate from "the one". Those are his words for it. Couldn't this view be applied to aesthetics and the understanding of musical value? I would appreciate some thoughts on this. It is an interesting idea I think at least.

[bboyamir]

@polpoint @soultorment27 i feel like in this case, though, we would have to be careful what kind of causal story we're trying to figure out. if its the laws of nature, heidegger would probably disagree because dasein is not rule-based, however i supposed we could conceive of a deterministic causal story that doesn't follow any specific set of rules, yet still couldn't have happened any other way?

[polpoint]

@soultorment27 I think it is random & inexplicable and then tempered/ refined by our past responses to stimuli. It's just that most people appear to be creatures of habit and are supposedly comfortable with repetition/ predictability. Though you are right, and I would need to be observing my internal processes externally to actually determine if that is true or if there is just so much complexity that it appears to be random. I guess in the end it comes down to "is anything _really_ random?"

[soultorment27]

@polpoint Why think that free will & causal determinism are incompatible? Even if everything was set on a specific causal course, we aren't in any position to know, since there are so many factors. So in that sense, we cannot fully "figure out" other's behavior. But perhaps in principle, it's possible? I don't see why human free will would be incompatible with the fact that everything is causally determined. It seems to me that if the will was not caused, then it would be random & inexplicable.

[890buddha]

@polpoint you can't do what the fuck you want, because you can only do what you know how to do, because you have been taught certain things and absorbed certain information.

[polpoint]

@890buddha I completely disagree because I will do whatever the fuck I want to do. It's the same reason none of my psychologist girl friends could "figure me out." You can "figure out" the apes and idiots controlled by their instincts who are mimicking human behaviors, needs and wants because they are simplistic and, for the most part, predictable. And even they sometimes let their self-determination shine through. But In my unhumble opinon you can't "figure out" a human.

[890buddha]

the universe is just the sum of all the existential factors, choice does not exist, everything is already set on a specific course and there cannot be a deviation, we humans are on the rails so to speak, we are just along for the ride, everything i will ever do is just my pre determined reaction to the stimulus of the information i absorb.

[AphexXtal]

@Nostatementinthename Yes I think you are right. Foucault apparently read Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology". I have the feeling that he might have also read Heidegger's books on Nietzsche.