Dasein's Fulfillment: The Intentionality of Authenticity

Abstract

The reader who attempts a hermeneutic understanding of Heidegger's Being and Time (SZ) has traditionally faced two notable challenges.' The first is that SZ is an incomplete text; the two published divisions represent approximately one third of the overall work as it is projected in Heidegger's introduction (SZ 3940). The second challenge is that Heidegger published very little in the years preceding the appearance of SZ. The primary barometer of his thinking during this period is found in the manuscripts of his lecture courses and in his students' notes. Since much of this material has only been published in the last twenty years, access to this work has historically been limited. These lacunae have made it difficult to situate SZ both within the context of Heidegger's early thought, and relative to the question which guides his entire philosophical endeavor—namely the Seinsfrage or the question of the meaning of Being. This is the question with which Heidegger begins his investigation in SZ (SZ 2-19), and it is meant to frame the discussion in the extant two divisions dealing with the Being of Dasein. Due to the incomplete nature of the text, however, it is easy to overlook that this discussion of Dasein is to be understood against the horizon of the Seinsfrage. Moreover, in the absence of further evidence of Heidegger's thinking leading up to this point, there is little to remind the reader of Heidegger's concern with the Seinsfrage during this period of his philosophical development. These factors have fostered two general tendencies in traditional Heidegger interpretation. First, the observation is often made that Heidegger's early work is concerned with the Being of Dasein while his later work deals with Being in a broader sense. This view de-emphasizes the continuity in Heidegger's early and later thoughts and seems untenable upon consideration of Heidegger's early lecture courses which make it clear that Being was an early