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Dasein as Transcendence in Heidegger and the Critique of Husserl

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Heidegger in the Twenty-First Century

Part of the book series: Contributions To Phenomenology ((CTPH,volume 80))

Abstract

In this paper, I shall examine the evolution of Heidegger’s concept of ‘transcendence’ as it appears in Being and Time (1927), ‘On the Essence of Ground’ (1928) and related texts from the late 1920s in relation to his rethinking of subjectivity and intentionality. Heidegger defines Being as ‘transcendence’ in Being and Time and reinterprets intentionality in terms of the transcendence of Dasein. In the critical epistemological tradition of philosophy stemming from Kant, as in Husserl, transcendence and immanence are key notions (see Husserl The Idea of Phenomenology, 1907 and Ideas I, 1913). Indeed, ‘transcendence in immanence’ is a leitmotif of Husserl’s phenomenology. Husserl discusses transcendence in some detail in Cartesian Meditations § 11 in a manner which is not dissimilar to Heidegger. Heidegger is critical of Husserl’s understanding of consciousness and intentionality and deliberately chooses to discuss transcendence as an exceptional domain for the discussion of beings in his ‘On the Essence of Ground,’ his submission to Husserl’s seventieth-birthday Festschrift. Despite his championing of a new concept of transcendence in the late 1920s, Heidegger effectively abandons the term during the early 1930s. In this paper, I shall explore Heidegger articulation of his new ontological conception of finite transcendence and compare it with Husserl’s conception of the transcendence of the ego in order to get clearer what is at stake in Heidegger’s conceptions of subjectivity, Dasein and transcendence.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Edmund Husserl, Einleitung in der Logik und Erkenntnistheorie. Vorlesungen 1906/07, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 24 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1984), 398. For the English translation, see Edmund Husserl, Introduction to Logic and the Theory of Knowledge. Lectures 1906/07, trans. C. Ortiz Hill, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Collected Works, Volume 13 (Dordrecht: Springer, 2008), 398.

  2. 2.

    See GA 28. Heidegger lectured also on Schelling (1930) and Hegel (1930/1931). See Heidegger GA 32.

  3. 3.

    Landmesser Christof and Andreas Großmann, eds., Rudolf Bultmann/Martin Heidegger: Briefwechsel 1925–1975 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009), 48. See also Otto Pöggeler, Philosophie und hermeneutische Theologie: Heidegger, Bultmann und die Folgen (München: Wilhelm Fink, 2009).

  4. 4.

    See letter of Heidegger to Jaspers, 10 December 1925, in Walter Biemel and Hans Saner, eds., The Heidegger-Jaspers Correspondence (1920–1963) (Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2003), 61.

  5. 5.

    See Heidegger letter to Jaspers, 16 December 1925. Ibid., 62.

  6. 6.

    The essay written in 1928 and contributed to Husserl’s seventieth-birthday Festschrift, published as a supplementary volume to the Jahrbuchfür Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung in 1929 and reprinted in Wegmarken (GA 9, pp. 123–75).

  7. 7.

    ‘Wir nennen das, woraufhin das Dasein als solches transzendiert, die Welt und bestimmen jetzt die Transzendenzals In-der-Welt-sein.’ (GA 9, p. 139)

  8. 8.

    At the outset of Being and Time, Heidegger refers to being [Sein] as that which, according to Aristotelian philosophy, ‘transcends’ the categories. In this regard, the Scholastics referred to being as ‘transcendens’ (SZ, § 1, p. 3). The transcendentals are those characteristics of being that lie beyond every genus (SZ, § 4, p. 14).

  9. 9.

    Heidegger seems to say this more as a kind of statement that is in one sense obviously true and, in another sense, has never been interrogated as to its deeper meaning. It is, as it were, a truism, what Aristotle calls a commonly held opinion.

  10. 10.

    Heidegger’s ‘Letter on “Humanism”’ was originally written to the French philosopher Jean Beaufret in 1946 as a response to certain questions put to Heidegger regarding his relations to Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism. In his letter, Heidegger believes ‘humanism’ is an essentially metaphysical position deriving from Roman philosophy that fails to capture what is essential to human existence. He writes: ‘Humanism is opposed because it does not set the humanitas of the human being high enough’ (GA 9, p. 330).

  11. 11.

    Max Scheler, Die Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos (Darmstadt: Otto Reichl Verlag, 1928). For the English translation, see Max Scheler, The Human Place in the Cosmos, trans. M Frings (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2009).

  12. 12.

    Karl Jaspers, Philosophy, Volume 2, trans. E. B. Ashton, Philosophy: 3 Volumes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), 45. For the original German collection, see Karl Jaspers, Philosophie. 3 Bände (I. Philosophische Weltorientierung; II. Existenzerhellung; III. Metaphysik) (Berlin: Springer, 1932).

  13. 13.

    Karl Jaspers, Philosophy of Existence, trans. R. F. Grabau (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 21. For the original German text, see Karl Jaspers, Existenzphilosophie (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1938). Although strictly speaking, these written remarks of Jaspers were published after the period we are discussing, Jaspers himself was exploring these issues much earlier than they appear in published form.

  14. 14.

    Jaspers, Philosophy of Existence: 76.

  15. 15.

    Heidegger letter to Jaspers, 24 May 1926. See Biemel and Saner, The Heidegger-Jaspers Correspondence (1920–1963), 67. See also, Theodore Kisiel, The Genesis of Heidegger’s Being and Time (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 483.

  16. 16.

    Jaspers, Philosophy of Existence: 74.

  17. 17.

    For an excellent discussion, see Daniel O. Dahlstrom, ‘Heidegger’s Transcendentalism,’ Research in Phenomenology 35(2005): 29–54.

  18. 18.

    See Oskar Becker, ‘Transcendenz und Paratranszendenz,’ in Travaux du IXe congrés international de philosophie. Volume 8. Analyse réflexive et transcendance, ed. Raymond Bayer (Paris: Hermann, 1937), 97–104. See also Oskar Becker, ‘Para-Existenz: Menschliches Dasein und Dawesen,’ Blätterfür Deutsche Philosophie 17 (1943): 62–95.

  19. 19.

    See Marvin Farber, ‘Experience and Transcendence,’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 12, no. 1 (1951): 20.

  20. 20.

    Plato, The Republic: Books 1–5, trans. Paul Shorey (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), 509b9.

  21. 21.

    Becker, ‘Transcendenz und Paratranszendenz,’ 100.

  22. 22.

    Farber, ‘Experience and Transcendence,’ 20.

  23. 23.

    See Becker, ‘Transcendenz und Paratranszendenz,’ 104. It is translated in Farber, ‘Experience and Transcendence,’ 21.

  24. 24.

    Husserl adopted from Descartes (and of course originally from Aristotle) the idea of an ultimate grounding science which is called prima philosophia or ‘first philosophy.’ Husserl insists that fully clarified transcendental phenomenology (which includes even the ‘phenomenology of phenomenology’) is the ultimate first philosophy.

  25. 25.

    Edmund Husserl, Die Krisis der Europäischen Wissenschaften und die Transzendentale Phänomenologie, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 6 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1976a), § 14. For the English translation, see Edmund Husserl, The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, trans. David Carr (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970), § 14.

  26. 26.

    Edmund Husserl, Die Idee der Phänomenologie. Fünf Vorlesungen, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 2 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1973a). For the English translation, Edmund Husserl, The Idea of Phenomenology, trans. L. Hardy, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Collected Works, Volume 8 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999).

  27. 27.

    Edmund Husserl, Ideen zu einer Reinen Phänomenologie und Phänomenologischen Philosophie. Erstes Buch: Allgemeine Einführung in die Reine Phänomenologie, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 3–1 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1995). For the English translation, see Edmund Husserl, Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy. First Book. General Introduction to a Pure Phenomenology, trans. F. Kersten, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Collected Works, Volume 2 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1982).

  28. 28.

    Edmund Husserl, Méditations cartésiennes: introduction à la phénoménologie, trans. Emmanuel Levinas and Gabrielle Peiffer (Paris: Almand Colin, 1931). The German text was not published until 1950. See Edmund Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 1 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1950). For the English translation, see Edmund Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology, trans. Dorion Cairns (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1960).

  29. 29.

    Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge: 134.; Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology: § 47.

  30. 30.

    Husserl, Einleitung in der Logik und Erkenntnistheorie. Vorlesungen 1906/07: 396.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., 398.

  32. 32.

    Ibid.

  33. 33.

    Ibid.; Husserl, Introduction to Logic and the Theory of Knowledge. Lectures 1906/07: 398.

  34. 34.

    Edmund Husserl, Ding und Raum. Vorlesungen 1907, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 16 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1973b). For the English translation, see Edmund Husserl, Thing and Space: Lectures of 1907, trans. Richard Rojcewicz, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Collected Works, Volume 7 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998).

  35. 35.

    Especially in various writings from the period 1906/1907, Husserl frequently invokes Kant’s Letter to Herz. See for example, Husserl, Ding und Raum. Vorlesungen 1907: 139. He often alludes to Kant’s formulation in this letter in his mature works. See, for instance, Edmund Husserl, ‘Phänomenologie und Erkenntnistheorie (1917),’ in Aufsätze und Vorträge 1911–1921, ed. H. R. Sepp and Thomas Nenon, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 25 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1987), 143.

  36. 36.

    Husserl, Einleitung in der Logik und Erkenntnistheorie. Vorlesungen 1906/07: 400.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., 402.

  38. 38.

    Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge: 116. Husserl; Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology: § 41, 83.

  39. 39.

    Husserl, Ideen I: 77.; Husserl, Ideas I: § 42, 90.

  40. 40.

    Husserl, Ideen I: 77.; Husserl, Ideas I: § 42, 89.

  41. 41.

    Edmund Husserl, Ideen zu Einer Reinen Phänomenologie und Phänomenologischen Philosophie. Erstes Buch: Allgemeine Einführung in die Reine Phänomenologie, 2. Halbband: Ergänzende Texte (1912–1929), Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 3–2 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1976b), § 58, 124.; Husserl, Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy. First Book. General Introduction to a Pure Phenomenology: § 58, 133.

  42. 42.

    Husserl, Ideen I: § 57, 124.; Husserl, Ideas I: § 57, 133.

  43. 43.

    Husserl, Ideen I: § 59, 111–12.; Husserl, Ideas I: § 59, 135.

  44. 44.

    Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge: 135.; Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: § 47, 104–05.

  45. 45.

    Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge: 65.; Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: § 11, 26.

  46. 46.

    Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge: 117.; Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: § 41, 83–4. Translation modified.

  47. 47.

    Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen: 117.; Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: § 41, 83–4.

  48. 48.

    Edmund Husserl, Erste Philosophie (1923/24). Erster Teil: Kritische Ideengeschichte, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 7 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1956), 220.

  49. 49.

    The whole note reads: ‘transcendens freilich nicht—trotz alles metaphysischen Anklangs—scholastisch und griechisch-platonisch koinon, sondern Transzendenz alsdas Ekstatische—Zeitlichkeit—Temporalität; aber “Horizont”! Seyn hat Seyendes “überdacht.” Transzendenz aber von Wahrheit des Seyns her: das Ereignis.’

  50. 50.

    Edmund Husserl, Formale und transzendentale Logik. Versuch einer Kritik der logischen Vernunft, Husserliana: Edmund Husserl—Gesammelte Werke, Band 17 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1974). For the English translation, see Edmund Husserl, Formal and Transcendental Logic, trans. Dorion Cairns (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1969).

  51. 51.

    Husserl, Formale und transzendentale Logik. Versuch einer Kritik der logischen Vernunft: § 62, 148.; Husserl, Formal and Transcendental Logic: § 62, 165–66.

  52. 52.

    In his ‘Letter on “Humanism,”’ Heidegger explains that the third division of Part One of Being and Time was held back because ‘thinking failed in the adequate saying of this turning and did not succeed with the help of the language of metaphysics’ (GA 9, pp. 327–28). However, the ‘other thinking’ of the later Heidegger does not appear to have any adequate way of expressing the meaning of Dasein’s self-being either.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Dermot Moran (Professor of Philosophy (Metaphysics & Logic), Walter Murdoch Professor of Philosophy)

  2. School of Arts, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

    Dermot Moran (Professor of Philosophy (Metaphysics & Logic), Walter Murdoch Professor of Philosophy)

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  1. Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Tziovanis Georgakis

  2. School of Business, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Paul J. Ennis

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Moran, D. (2015). Dasein as Transcendence in Heidegger and the Critique of Husserl. In: Georgakis, T., Ennis, P. (eds) Heidegger in the Twenty-First Century. Contributions To Phenomenology, vol 80. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9679-8_3

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