Heidegger on No-thing and the Principle of Non-contradiction

Abstract

Heidegger’s 1929 lecture on Nothing is usually considered as a critique of logic and, more generally, of the sciences that mainly rely on it. However, it can also be interpreted as a strong attempt to overcome Western metaphysics, i.e., the metaphysics of Anwesenheit, as well as a specific interpretation of the principle of non-contradiction on which this metaphysical perspective is grounded. In this new particular philosophical framework proposed by Heidegger, Dasein’s thrownness finds its proper space — the space of Dasein’s freedom. In my paper, I will argue that Heidegger’s proposal, more than just a critique of logic, is a call to re-think some fundamental topics of philosophy and, above all, is a call to be attentive to what is. Surprisingly, this fundamental attention is also the element that discloses Dasein’s thrownness, making possible its freedom. This latter, then, assumes in Heidegger’s thought a very different character from its usual understanding: it is not recognised as a completely absolute possibility of action, i.e., untied from constraints, but rather an attuned response to Being.