John Dunn

First posted on Monday, 27 August 2012 at 12:05

Writing a recent article about the work of Martin Heidegger (left), I came across a wonderful quotation from his History and the Concept of Time.  It is about what he describes as uncanniness, the fear, horror and terror that Dasein encounters as part of the nature of being in the world. More particularly, it is about the dread of death - the point of death when Dasein is exposed as what it really is. Heidegger writes, ‘there is thus the possibility, in the very moment of departing from the world, so to speak, when the world has nothing more to say to us and every other has nothing more to say, that the world and our being-in-it show themselves purely and simply.’ The flight of Dasein from itself has to end. At the point of death Dasein has no choice but to confront itself. Dasein sees itself in all its nakedness.

I was reminded of the words from Job 1:21

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

John Dunn.