Philosophy

Being and Time: 8 key ideas

by Martin Heidegger

The core ideas of Being and Time, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.

1. IDEA 1 OF 8

   Philosophy forgot the question of Being

   Heidegger argues that Western philosophy has forgotten to ask what it means for anything to be.

   He sets out to reopen this question, starting with the one being for whom its own existence is an issue: the human being.

2. IDEA 2 OF 8

   Humans are Dasein

   Heidegger uses the word Dasein, meaning being-there, for human existence.

   Dasein is not a thing like a rock but a way of being that understands and cares about its own existence.

3. IDEA 3 OF 8

   We are always in a world

   Heidegger argues that Dasein is always being-in-the-world, involved with things and people.

   We do not first exist as isolated minds and then discover the world; we are always already engaged in it.

4. IDEA 4 OF 8

   Tools reveal how we live

   Heidegger distinguishes things that are ready-to-hand, like a hammer used without thinking, from things that are present-at-hand, observed as objects.

   We notice tools as objects only when they break. Use comes before theory.

5. IDEA 5 OF 8

   Everyday life follows the They

   Heidegger describes the They, the anonymous crowd that shapes how we think and act.

   In everyday life, we often do what one does, losing our own way of being. We hide in the crowd.

6. IDEA 6 OF 8

   We are thrown into existence

   Heidegger describes thrownness: we find ourselves already in a situation we did not choose, with a past, culture and body.

   We must make sense of this condition. Our starting point is given.

7. IDEA 7 OF 8

   Care structures existence

   Heidegger argues that the basic structure of Dasein is care, a concern with our own being and the world.

   Care includes our past, present and future. Time is woven into who we are.

8. IDEA 8 OF 8

   Facing death makes us authentic

   Heidegger argues that recognising our own mortality can free us from the They.

   Being-towards-death allows Dasein to live authentically, choosing its own possibilities. Death gives life urgency and helps us take hold of our own choices.