An Attempt at Clarifying Being-Towards-Death

Abstract

In Being and Time, Heidegger offers an account of death that is both one of the most challenging parts of the book, and also one of the most controversial and difficult treatments of the topic in the history of philosophy. Although there is no shortage of attempts to clear up the most confusing aspects of Heidegger’s death chapter, there still remains a fair amount of disagreement in the various interpretations. My contribution to this volume consists of a section-by-section exegesis of this chapter with the goal of correcting some errant readings. Obviously, the death chapter cannot be taken in isolation, and so, I also explain its connections to what comes before and after, both within Heidegger’s magnum opus and, in some cases, in the history of the philosophy of death. In the course of examining his claims, I find it helpful to appeal to the work of Charles Guignon. In two recent articles, he has made significant contributions to the formulation of a better and more thorough understanding of Heidegger on death.