Have you ever used the English Germanism Dasein (pronounce approximately: ‘dah-zine, meaning existence)? I found this one on my incredible list and wonder now, how often I have ever used it in German … It sounds so very philosophical – and actually, it is.
Before I venture into anything that relates to philosophers, I want to let you know that to me it defines the entity of an individual’s being within a lifespan. There are even German idioms such as eking out one’s existence – “sein Dasein fristen” (pronounce: zine ‘dah-zine fristn). Daseinszweck (pronounce: ‘duh-zines-tsveck), meaning purpose of existence. Or kümmerliches Dasein (pronounce approximately: koomer-li-hes ‘duh-zine), meaning miserable existence.
I may be wrong, but Dasein to me seems a rather gloomy version of Life. I prefer Life when I talk about my existence, my presence, my daily experience within my lifespan. Now let’s see whether I got it wrong.
Seems it starts with German philosopher Hegel, who distinguishes between a BEING something (something alive) and an EXISTING something (a thing). Existence is defined by bordering on non-existence, if I get that right; and existence also means being subject to changes within its span of existing. Sorry, Mr. Hegel, if I hashed this up.
In comes Heidegger, and he declares, similar to Hegel, that existence is different from being (Dasein); he ascribes the latter only to mankind. The difference is that a human being can DECIDE about what their existence is to be or not to be, unlike a thing. Dasein is not passive, it is very much in control of which way it wants to go. Which makes Jaspers claim that a Dasein’s purpose is its fulfilment, the Daseinszweck.
Now, we end up with Sartre, who opposes Hegel entirely. Whereas Hegel, in a nutshell, sees the only liberty of Dasein as the awareness of what is necessary, Sartre determines that human liberty is a given. Meaning – if I get this right – whereas Hegel deems the human Dasein a matter of fate, Sartre emphasizes the human Dasein as a matter of individual choices. I may be wrong, but to me it sounds like one Dasein is pretty much predetermination, the other individual, free will.
Good grief (and thank you, Wikipedia, for explaining so much in so few words!) – as a Christian, I might have gotten into quite an argument with Hegel AND Sartre! They are basically arguing about how much of a higher being we are willing to accept into our life or whether we determine to be the commander of our own ship. Whether the wind that blows into our sails is from a higher authority and is meant to send us into a certain direction, or whether it is random and we are deciding to go with it or simply not play along.
Whichever it is for anybody, it’s Dasein. A very much live experience, subject to changes on different levels, sometimes at very short notice. And we all are dealing with this – some battling it under their own power, some trusting their higher authority. Everybody is their own philosopher in this. Who could PROVE anybody wrong?! I just know Who’s right for me, though.
