Presenter Information
Thomas Gambino
Department of Philosophy, Duquesne University
Abstract
This paper explores the necessity of law for the existence of Dasein in the thinking of Martin Heidegger. It begins by analyzing our everyday experience of the phenomenon of law, concluding that the being of law reveals itself to us, at different times, as present-at-hand and ready-to-hand. From this realization, it grounds the being of law in the being of Dasein, describing law essentially as Dasein’s own existence, projected into the world and shown back to it as a seemingly independent phenomenon. Finally, it characterizes this projection as an act of building and concludes that Dasein dwells in the law that it builds for itself. As it is Dasein’s essence to exist, this paper demonstrates that law is necessary for Dasein because it is only by creating laws for itself that Dasein is able to exist.
School
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Advisor
Dr. James Swindal
Submission Type
Poster
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Included in
Continental Philosophy Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Metaphysics Commons
Building Legal Dwelling: An Existential Analysis of the Phenomenon of Law
This paper explores the necessity of law for the existence of Dasein in the thinking of Martin Heidegger. It begins by analyzing our everyday experience of the phenomenon of law, concluding that the being of law reveals itself to us, at different times, as present-at-hand and ready-to-hand. From this realization, it grounds the being of law in the being of Dasein, describing law essentially as Dasein’s own existence, projected into the world and shown back to it as a seemingly independent phenomenon. Finally, it characterizes this projection as an act of building and concludes that Dasein dwells in the law that it builds for itself. As it is Dasein’s essence to exist, this paper demonstrates that law is necessary for Dasein because it is only by creating laws for itself that Dasein is able to exist.