Dasein and Others: Heidegger's Ontology of Intersubjectivity

Abstract

Martin Heidegger's existential analytic in Being and Time articulates the essential structures and characteristics of Dasein in the endeavor to elucidate the nature of Being in general. As such Heidegger is led to offer an ontology of intersubjectivity, i.e., an account of the essential structures of Dasein's interaction with others. I argue in this essay that Heidegger's depiction of the two intersubjective existentiala-"Being-with" and the "they" with all their attendant modes and features-is an inadequate characterization of the range of interpersonal life. 1 explicate and explore in the spirit of Heidegger a further existentiale, "Being-questioned", as a required addition to Being and Time. Being-questioned at once challenges Heidegger's position that authenticity is an individual project necessarily occurring in the absence of other people and allows for a richer and thus more plausible ontology of human interaction. Dasein and Others: Heidegger's Ontology of Intersubjectivity What is the metaphysical basis of our relationships with other people? And given that basis, what are the essential structures and characteristics of these relations? Martin Heidegger seeks to address these questions in Being and Time. My essay 1) situates Heidegger's intersubjective ontology within his larger project of understanding the nature of Being in general, 2) elucidates his interpretation of the two essential structures of intersubjective life and their essential characteristics, and 3) recognizes a further and central feature of interpersonality that Heidegger does not articulate-a feature that contributes to a richer understanding of intersubjectivity than Heidegger's account allows.