The irreconcilable self in Heidegger’s logic of authenticity and event

James Bahoh

Authors

James Bahoh University of Memphis

Keywords:

Heidegger, self, event, authenticity, ontology

Abstract

In Heideggerian ontology, the way Dasein is grounded in beyng (Seyn) as event (Ereignis) is a matter of debate. In this article, I address this within a specific scope: I develop an interpretation of the logic of authenticity and inauthenticity in Dasein’s ‘selfhood’ and the relation of this logic to that of the domain of propriety (das Eigentum) that forms part of the structure of beyng as event. I argue authenticity and inauthenticity are logically inextricable from one another: authenticity is structurally problematized by inauthenticity such that the latter co-constitutes the former. This entails that becoming more authentically oneself means reducing alienation not from an idealized authentic state of ‘self,’ but from the logic of co-constitutive irreconcilability between authenticity and inauthenticity. This logic is more originarily described by domains of propriety and alienation in the event. The logic of the event forms the pre-personal ground of Dasein’s intrinsically problematic selfhood.

Author Biography

James Bahoh, University of Memphis

James Bahoh is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis and author of Heidegger’s Ontology of Events (Edinburgh University Press, 2020). His main research is in phenomenology, post-phenomenological Continental philosophy, and ontology / metaphysics in the context of German and French thought from Kant to today. He also has research interests in 21st-century post-analytic / Continental divide philosophy. Prior to joining the University of Memphis, he held positions as Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar at Deakin University, Visiting Assistant Professor at Marquette University, VolkswagenStiftung / Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bonn, and Scholar-in-Residence at Duquesne University’s Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center.

References

Bahoh, James. Heidegger’s Ontology of Events. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.

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Heidegger, Martin. [GA65] Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis). Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 2003. (English: Contributions to Philosophy: Of the Event. Translated by Richard Rojcewicz and Daniella Vallega-Neu. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012.)

Heidegger, Martin. [GA71] Das Ereignis. Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 2009. (English: The Event. Translated by Richard Rojcewicz. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013.)

Heidegger, Martin. Sein und Zeit. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2006. (English: Being and Time. Translated by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. New York: Harper and Row, 1962.)

Heidegger, Martin. “Vom Wesen der Wahrheit.” In [GA9] Wegmarken, 177-202. Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1976.

Richardson, William J. Heidegger: Through Phenomenology to Thought. New York: Fordham University Press, 2003.