Heidegger and Being

Okay, so a brief disclaimer: Heidegger is abused widely by many different cults. Secondly, Heidegger was an ardent member of the Nazi party. He wasn't on the fringes of the Nazi party, he was right there in the thick of it. So why talk about him at all? Because I think his philosophy is important.

Now, Heidegger did what was called ontology, which is a form of phenomenology that deals with being. In practice, ontology is not much different from metaphysics, and I would argue that Heidegger was a metaphysician. What phenemonology is: a philosophical technique that investigates any observable thing, which it calls a phenomena.

Now Heidegger had what he called Existanz, which is the sum total of everything that exists. This sum total was in constant change, and quantum physics bears this out. Quantum physics is very hard to understand, but everything from DLP television sets to fiber optic cables works on its principles. It is a very well-proven theory.

Now there is a being in Existanz called Dasein. Dasein is the human Being. It is part of existanz but its mode of perception is separate from it. This is because Dasein's consciousness works in time.

Think of how the eyes work. Every few milliseconds, the eyes snap a picture. It works kind of like digital sampling. They snap a frame at a very fast rate, and this produces our perception. All of human perception works that way. This "sampling" creates time. Also, it is important to note that human perception isn't continuous, it's discrete. It works at consistent intervals.

Now Heidegger argued that Dasein must study itself and its modes of perception, and that understanding itself would help it to understand Existanz. Some of you should think about going into neuroscience.

And that briefly explains Heidegger's best work.