Everydayness and the “Norm” of Addictive Practices

Abstract

This chapter show how the “life-situation” of the addict can provide an example, or in Heidegger’s terms, “formally indicate” the pre-philosophical, pre-theoretical background that we all share—addict and non-addict alike—out of which any genuine understanding of the problem of addiction can first arise. Following the basic precepts of Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenology, we will appeal to the life-story or testimonial of the addict, in order to make explicit the self’s immersion in the struggle of existing, the foremost issue of having “to be,” as the pre-theoretical backdrop for understanding addiction. In this way, a broader philosophical horizon will emerge that will enable us to address the phenomenon of addiction outside the traditional dualisms of mind and body, mental and physical, which underlie psychology.