Dasein

Definition

Dasein is Heidegger's term for the entity that we ourselves are—the entity for whom Being is an issue. Literally "being-there" (Da-sein), the term avoids traditional designations like "subject," "consciousness," or "man" that carry ontological baggage. Dasein's essence lies in its existence: it is not a what but a how, not a substance but a way of being. "The 'essence' of this entity lies in its 'to be' [Zu-sein]… The essence of Dasein lies in its existence" (Being and Time, §9, H. 42). Dasein is characterized by mineness (Jemeinigkeit)—in each case, it is mine to be.

Key Thinkers

• heidegger-martin — coined the term and developed the existential analytic of Dasein in Being and Time (1927) as the pathway to reopening the question of Being.
• arendt-hannah — engages critically with Heidegger's Dasein analysis, particularly his emphasis on mortality; positions natality (the capacity to begin) as the central political category against Heidegger's being-toward-death.

Related Concepts

• being-in-the-world — the fundamental structure of Dasein; Dasein is not a subject facing an object but is always already Being-in-the-world.
• care — the Being of Dasein; the unified structure of ahead-of-itself, already-being-in, and being-alongside.
• temporality — the ontological meaning of Dasein's Being as care; Dasein is temporal through and through.
• dwelling — Dasein's mode of Being on the earth; "to be human is to be on the earth as a mortal" (Heidegger, "Building Dwelling Thinking").
• uncanny — the feeling of "not-being-at-home" that reveals Dasein's thrownness and individualizes it from the they-self.

Source Support

Sources in the wiki that discuss Dasein:

• source-notes/heidegger-1927-being-and-time — the foundational existential analytic; Dasein as the entity for whom Being is an issue.
• source-notes/heidegger-building-dwelling-thinking — Dasein as mortal, dwelling on the earth, preserving the fourfold.
• source-notes/arendt-1958-the-human-condition — critical engagement with Heidegger's Dasein analysis; natality vs. mortality.
• source-notes/norberg-schulz-genius-loci — Dasein's existential space and the concretization of dwelling.
• source-notes/harries-1997-ethical-function-of-architecture — Dasein's need for dwelling and the ethical function of architecture.
• source-notes/heynen-1999-architecture-and-modernity — Dasein's homelessness and the dialectic of modern dwelling.
• source-notes/vidler-1992-architectural-uncanny — the uncanny as Dasein's experience of not-being-at-home.

Open Questions

• Can Dasein be operationalized for architectural critique without reducing it to a psychological or anthropological category?
• How does Dasein's mineness relate to collective or shared existence? Is there a "we-Dasein"?
• What is the relationship between Dasein's thrownness and the material/historical conditions of architectural production?