Decomposition Tree of Dasein

Dasein

"Being-there" or "Being-in-the-world" - Heidegger's term for human existence

Example 1: Authentic Painter (Marina)

Dasein - Marina, Authentic Painter

Marina is a 35-year-old painter who left a corporate career to pursue authentic artistic expression

1. Existential Structure (Existenzialien)

The fundamental ways Dasein exists

1.1 Being-in-the-world (In-der-Welt-sein)

1.1.1 Being-in (In-Sein)

• Her studio is existential home where she truly dwells (Wohnen)
• Familiarity (Vertrautheit) with creative space goes beyond physical location
• Each corner of the studio reveals possibilities for authentic expression

1.1.2 The World (Welt)

• Umwelt (environment-world): Canvas, paints, brushes are extensions of her being; tools reveal genuine possibilities
  • Tools are ready-to-hand (Zuhandenheit) - seamlessly integrated into her artistic practice
  • Equipment (Zeug) reveals the work-world (Werkwelt) of artistic creation
• Mitwelt (with-world): Deep connections with fellow artists who challenge her vision; gallery owners who respect her integrity
  • Genuine being-with (Mitsein) other artists in shared struggle
  • Relationships are care (Sorge) not use
• Selbstwelt (self-world): Constantly questions her artistic voice through self-portraits and introspective work
  • Self-understanding (Selbstverständnis) through artistic expression
  • Authentic self-relation (Selbstverhältnis)

1.1.3 The "Who" of Dasein (Wer des Daseins)

• Das Man (The They): Resists "what painters should do" - refuses to paint "what sells" or follow trendy styles
  • Rejects averageness (Durchschnittlichkeit) of art market
  • Resists leveling down (Einebnung) of artistic vision
• Authentic self (Eigentlichkeit): Individuated through confronting mortality in her work about human suffering
  • Individuation (Vereinzelung) through anxiety and death-awareness
  • Self-constancy (Selbst-ständigkeit) in her artistic mission

1.2 Care (Sorge)

The fundamental structure of Dasein's being

1.2.1 Existentiality (Existenzialität - being-ahead-of-itself / Sich-vorweg-sein)

• Projects authentic possibilities: "I could explore this new technique that expresses my vision of grief"
  • Projection (Entwurf) into genuine artistic possibilities
  • Understanding (Verstehen) as projection of future possibilities
• Future oriented toward becoming who she genuinely is as an artist
  • Authentic futurity (Zukünftigkeit)
• Potentiality-for-Being (Seinkönnen): Each painting is projection into possibility of truth-revealing
  • Existence (Existenz) as standing-out into possibilities
  • Transcendence (Transzendenz) beyond current actualization

1.2.2 Facticity (Faktizität - already-being-in / Schon-sein-in)

• Thrownness (Geworfenheit): Owns that she grew up in poverty, uses this background to inform authentic perspective
  • Accepts factical existence (faktische Existenz)
  • Situatedness (Situiertheit) in concrete circumstances
• Embraces having been corporate worker: This past shapes her critique of modern alienation
  • Heritage (Erbe) actively retrieved
• Historical embeddedness in late capitalism informs her artistic resistance
  • Historicity (Geschichtlichkeit) owned and confronted

1.2.3 Fallenness (Verfallen - being-alongside / Sein-bei)

• Recognizes when caught up in gallery politics or market demands
  • Aware of absorption (Aufgehen) in the world
  • Notices entanglement (Verfängnis) in everyday concerns
• Actively resists absorption in everyday distractions
  • Resists downward plunge (Absturz) into inauthenticity
• Sometimes falls but retrieves herself through anxious self-questioning
  • Retrieval (Wiederholung) of authentic self

2. Modes of Disclosure (Erschlossenheit)

How the world is opened up to Dasein

2.1 Understanding (Verstehen)

• Understands painting as opening possibilities for authentic self-expression
  • Sight (Sicht) - seeing possibilities in artistic practice
  • Circumspection (Umsicht) in dealing with art materials
• Practical competence developed through years of genuine engagement
  • Know-how (Können) embodied in practice
• Interpretation (Auslegung): Interprets art history critically, choosing which traditions to inherit
  • As-structure (Als-Struktur) - seeing canvas AS site of expression
  • Articulation (Artikulation) of artistic understanding

2.2 Attunement/Mood (Befindlichkeit / Stimmung)

• Embraces anxiety (Angst) as revealing what truly matters in existence
  • Fundamental mood (Grundstimmung) of authentic existence
  • Anxiety discloses Being-in-the-world as such (In-der-Welt-sein als solches)
• Paints from melancholy, joy, dread - authentic emotional states
  • Affectedness (Betroffenheit) by existence
• Finds herself in moods that disclose the world's depth
  • Finding-oneself (Sichbefinden) in authentic moods
  • Attunement (Gestimmtheit) reveals world's character

2.3 Discourse (Rede)

• Speaks authentically about struggles, doubts, mortality with other artists
  • Articulation (Artikulation) of genuine understanding
  • Communication (Mitteilung) that shares authentic vision
• Articulates vision in artist statements without jargon or pretension
  • Speaking (Sprechen) that reveals rather than conceals
  • Avoids idle talk (Gerede)
• Genuine dialogue reveals shared understanding of artistic mission
  • Hearing (Hören) the call of authentic artistic conscience
  • Silence (Schweigen) when words would falsify

3. Temporality (Zeitlichkeit)

The meaning of Care; unity of Dasein's being

3.1 Future (Zukunft)

• Anticipates death, making each artwork urgent and meaningful
  • Coming-toward-itself (Auf-sich-zukommen) authentically
  • Anticipation (Vorlaufen) of death grounds artistic choices
• Coming-toward authentic self through each painting
  • Authentic futurity (Zukünftigkeit) primary
• Future possibility of death grounds present creative choices
  • Anticipatory resoluteness (vorlaufende Entschlossenheit)

3.2 Having-Been (Gewesenheit)

• Retrieves Expressionist and Mexican muralist traditions actively
  • Retrieval (Wiederholung) of artistic heritage
  • Repetition (Wiederholung) makes past alive
• Her corporate past retrieved as authentic possibility for critique
  • Having-been (Gewesenheit) not mere past (Vergangenheit)
• Heritage of suffering artists informs her resolute commitment
  • Authentic being-been (Gewesen-sein)

3.3 Present (Gegenwart)

• Present moment of painting unified with mortality and artistic heritage
  • Moment of vision (Augenblick) - authentic present
  • Not lost in making-present (Gegenwärtigen) of mere entities
• Making-present (Gegenwärtigen): The canvas as site of authentic truth-revealing
  • Present derived from future and having-been
• Each brushstroke integrates future-having-been-present
  • Ecstatic unity (ekstatische Einheit) of temporality

4. Authenticity vs. Inauthenticity (Eigentlichkeit vs. Uneigentlichkeit)

4.1 Authentic Dasein (Eigentlichkeit - Primary Mode)

• Being-toward-death (Sein-zum-Tode): Each painting confronts finitude; memento mori series on aging
  • Death as ownmost (eigenste) possibility
  • Death as non-relational (unbezüglich) - faced alone
  • Death as certain (gewiss) and indefinite (unbestimmt)
• Anxiety (Angst): Embraces anxiety when starting blank canvas; reveals authentic possibilities
  • Anxiety individualizes (vereinzelt)
  • Anxiety reveals nothingness (Nichts) and freedom
• Resoluteness (Entschlossenheit): Resolute commitment to vision despite poverty and market pressures
  • Openness (Offenheit) to authentic possibilities
  • Clarity (Durchsichtigkeit) about own existence
• Owning possibilities: Chose possibility of struggling artist over secure corporate life
  • Choice (Wahl) of authentic self
  • Seizing-upon (Ergreifen) genuine possibilities
• Conscience (Gewissen) and guilt (Schuld): Heeds call of conscience when galleries ask her to compromise
  • Call of conscience (Ruf des Gewissens) summons to authenticity
  • Guilt (Schuld) as basis of existence - being-ground of nullity
  • Wanting-to-have-conscience (Gewissen-haben-wollen)

4.2 Inauthentic Dasein (Uneigentlichkeit - Occasional Lapses)

• Sometimes falls into idle talk (Gerede) at gallery openings
  • Averageness (Durchschnittlichkeit) temporarily
• Occasional temptation to paint "what sells"
  • Publicness (Öffentlichkeit) of market pressures
• But retrieves herself through anxious self-examination
  • Modification (Modifikation) back to authenticity

5. Being-with-Others (Mitsein)

5.1 Co-Dasein (Mitdasein)

• Sees other artists as fellow beings wrestling with existence
  • Others are Dasein-with (Mitdasein) not objects
  • Co-existence (Mitexistenz) in shared world
• Genuine co-existence in shared artistic struggle
  • Being-with (Mitsein) as existential structure
• Recognizes even critics and gallery owners as Dasein, not objects
  • Others encountered in their Being-there (Dasein)

5.2 Solicitude (Fürsorge)

• Leaping-ahead (Vorausspringen): Mentors young artists by encouraging them to find own voice
  • Liberating solicitude (Fürsorge)
  • Enables others' authenticity (Eigentlichkeit)
• Liberating care that enables students' authenticity
  • Freeing (befreiend) care
• Doesn't impose her style but helps others discover theirs
  • Not leaping-in (Einspringen) which dominates

6. Spatiality (Räumlichkeit)

6.1 De-severance (Ent-fernung)

• Studio materials existentially close even when traveling
  • Bringing-close (Näherung) through care
  • Nearness (Nähe) is existential not metric
• Museum across city feels nearer than shopping mall next door
  • Remoteness (Ferne) overcome by concern
• Art world brought close through existential engagement
  • De-distancing (Ent-fernung) - removing remoteness

6.2 Directionality (Ausrichtung)

• Oriented toward regions of artistic meaning: galleries, nature, sites of human suffering
  • Orientation (Ausrichtung) toward significant places
  • Region (Gegend) of artistic concern
• Her world organized around spaces that reveal authentic possibilities
  • Placehood (Platz) determined by significance
• Directionality toward truth rather than success
  • Whereabouts (Aufenthalt) in meaningful spaces

7. Death and Finitude (Tod und Endlichkeit)

7.1 Being-toward-death (Sein-zum-Tode)

• Constantly aware death is her ownmost (eigenste) possibility
  • Death individualizes (vereinzelt)
• Paints series on mortality: empty chairs, winter landscapes, fading light
  • Perishing (Verenden) vs. dying (Sterben) - human death
• Death non-relational (unbezüglich): must face it alone, informing individuated vision
  • Death unsurpassable (unüberholbar)
  • Death certain (gewiss) yet indefinite (unbestimmt)

7.2 Anticipation of Death (Vorlaufen zum Tode)

• Anticipation grounds every artistic choice
  • Running-forward (Vorlaufen) into death
  • Anticipatory resoluteness (vorlaufende Entschlossenheit)
• Mortality makes each decision meaningful and urgent
  • Freedom-toward-death (Freiheit zum Tode)
• Understanding that art outlives her but she won't see it
  • Being-toward-the-end (Sein-zum-Ende)

8. Historicality (Geschichtlichkeit)

8.1 Heritage (Erbe)

• Actively retrieves heritage of Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Käthe Kollwitz
  • Handing-down (Überlieferung) of possibilities
  • Tradition (Tradition) critically appropriated
• Chooses which artistic traditions to inherit authentically
  • Retrieval (Wiederholung) of handed-down possibilities
• Handed-down possibilities of Expressionist intensity
  • Heritage (Erbe) as living possibilities

8.2 Fate (Schicksal)

• Owns her fate as struggling artist in late capitalism
  • Fate (Schicksal) - individual historical existence
  • Choosing one's hero (Wahl seines Helden)
• Makes it destiny through resolute choice to create despite poverty
  • Resolution (Entschlossenheit) transforms thrownness into fate
• Individual historical existence as truth-teller through art
  • Authentic historizing (eigentliches Geschehen)

8.3 Destiny (Geschick)

• Participates in artistic community's shared struggle
  • Destiny (Geschick) - communal fate
  • Co-historizing (Mitgeschehen) with others
• Communal destiny: creating meaning in alienated modern world
  • Generation (Generation) sharing historical moment
• Collective resistance to commodification of art
  • Community (Gemeinschaft) of authentic co-existence

Example 2: Inauthentic Engineer (Robert)

Dasein - Robert, Inauthentic Engineer

Robert is a 40-year-old software engineer who followed expected path without genuine self-examination

1. Existential Structure (Existenzialien)

The fundamental ways Dasein exists

1.1 Being-in-the-world (In-der-Welt-sein)

1.1.1 Being-in (In-Sein)

• Office cubicle feels alien; merely occupies space
  • No genuine dwelling (Wohnen)
  • Unhomelike (Unheimlichkeit) suppressed, not confronted
• Goes through motions without true dwelling
  • Lacks existential familiarity (Vertrautheit)
• No existential familiarity, just habitual presence
  • Routine (Routine) replaces authentic engagement

1.1.2 The World (Welt)

• Umwelt (environment-world): Laptop and software are just "what engineers use"; tools selected by convention
  • Tools merely present-at-hand (Vorhandenheit) as objects
  • No authentic ready-to-hand (Zuhandenheit) engagement
  • Equipment (Zeug) used but not genuinely understood
• Mitwelt (with-world): Superficial relationships based on sports talk and complaining about management
  • Deficient being-with (Mitsein)
  • Indifference (Indifferenz) toward others as Dasein
• Selbstwelt (self-world): Avoids self-reflection; defines self through job title and salary
  • No authentic self-understanding (Selbstverständnis)
  • Self-forgetfulness (Selbstvergessenheit)

1.1.3 The "Who" of Dasein (Wer des Daseins)

• Das Man (The They): Fully absorbed - "Engineers earn good money," "one should pursue STEM," "we don't talk about feelings"
  • Complete dictatorship of Das Man (Diktatur des Man)
  • Averageness (Durchschnittlichkeit) fully embraced
  • Leveling down (Einebnung) of all possibilities
  • Publicness (Öffentlichkeit) determines all choices
• Inauthentic self (Uneigentlichkeit): Identity is entirely "what they say" an engineer should be
  • They-self (Man-selbst) not authentic self
  • Dispersion (Zerstreuung) in what "one" does

1.2 Care (Sorge)

The fundamental structure of Dasein's being

1.2.1 Existentiality (Existenzialität - being-ahead-of-itself / Sich-vorweg-sein)

• Projects inauthentic possibilities: "I should become senior engineer because that's the next step"
  • Inauthentic projection (Entwurf)
  • Understanding (Verstehen) dictated by Das Man
• Future is merely career timeline dictated by HR department
  • Inauthentic futurity (Zukünftigkeit)
• Potentiality-for-Being (Seinkönnen): No genuine projection into self-chosen possibilities
  • Existence (Existenz) reduced to career trajectory
  • No authentic transcendence (Transzendenz)

1.2.2 Facticity (Faktizität - already-being-in / Schon-sein-in)

• Thrownness (Geworfenheit): Denies it - ashamed of working-class roots, pretends always been professional
  • Fleeing (Flucht) from thrownness
  • Refuses factical existence (faktische Existenz)
• Doesn't own his past: "I don't like to talk about where I came from"
  • No authentic situatedness (Situiertheit)
• Historical embeddedness ignored and suppressed
  • Historicity (Geschichtlichkeit) denied

1.2.3 Fallenness (Verfallen - being-alongside / Sein-bei)

• Fully fallen: Absorbed in checking emails, meeting deadlines, metrics
  • Complete absorption (Aufgehen) in the world
  • Entanglement (Verfängnis) in everyday concerns
• Entangled in entities without questioning meaning
  • Lost in present-at-hand (Vorhandenheit)
• Lost in present tasks disconnected from authentic possibilities
  • Downward plunge (Absturz) into full inauthenticity
  • Turbulence (Wirbel) of busy-ness

2. Modes of Disclosure (Erschlossenheit)

How the world is opened up to Dasein

2.1 Understanding (Verstehen)

• Understands engineering only as "what one does for career success"
  • Circumspection (Umsicht) limited to task completion
  • No genuine sight (Sicht) into existence
• Technical competence without existential meaning
  • Know-how (Können) divorced from authentic care
• Interpretation (Auslegung): Interprets work solely through Das Man's measures: salary, title, status
  • As-structure (Als-Struktur) reduced to utility
  • No authentic articulation (Artikulation)

2.2 Attunement/Mood (Befindlichkeit / Stimmung)

• Suppresses uncomfortable moods: anxiety (Angst), dread, melancholy
  • Fleeing (Flucht) from fundamental moods
  • Fear (Furcht) of specific threats, not authentic anxiety
• Maintains artificial cheerfulness or numbness
  • Tranquilization (Beruhigung) against genuine moods
• "Professionals don't get emotional" - mood disclosure blocked
  • Denies affectedness (Betroffenheit)
  • No authentic finding-oneself (Sichbefinden)
  • Attunement (Gestimmtheit) suppressed

2.3 Discourse (Rede)

• Uses corporate jargon: "synergy," "optimization," "bandwidth"
  • Idle talk (Gerede) dominates
  • Scribbling (Geschreibe) in emails and reports
• Idle talk (Gerede): Communication that conceals rather than reveals
  • Groundlessness (Bodenlosigkeit) of discourse
  • Averageness (Durchschnittlichkeit) of understanding
• No genuine articulation of understanding
  • No authentic speaking (Sprechen)
  • Cannot truly hear (Hören)
  • Ambiguity (Zweideutigkeit) everywhere

3. Temporality (Zeitlichkeit)

The meaning of Care; unity of Dasein's being

3.1 Future (Zukunft)

• Future is merely "career progression timeline" on HR chart
  • Inauthentic futurity (Zukünftigkeit)
  • Awaiting (Gewärtigen) next promotion, not authentic anticipation
• Avoids genuine anticipation of finitude
  • Flees anticipation (Vorlaufen)
• Coming-toward nothing authentic, just next promotion
  • No authentic coming-toward-itself (Auf-sich-zukommen)

3.2 Having-Been (Gewesenheit)

• Passively accepts inherited career path: "My father was an engineer"
  • No retrieval (Wiederholung)
  • Forgetting (Vergessenheit) of authentic past
• No active retrieval of possibilities
  • Past as mere having-been (Vergangenheit) not living Gewesenheit
• Past is dead weight, not living heritage
  • No authentic being-been (Gewesen-sein)

3.3 Present (Gegenwart)

• Present fragmented into disconnected tasks and meetings
  • Lost in making-present (Gegenwärtigen)
  • Distraction (Zerstreuung) by immediate concerns
• Just "getting through the day" without temporal unity
  • No moment of vision (Augenblick)
• Making-present (Gegenwärtigen): No integration of future-having-been-present
  • Ecstatic unity (ekstatische Einheit) fragmented
  • Datability (Datierbarkeit) reduced to clock time

4. Authenticity vs. Inauthenticity (Eigentlichkeit vs. Uneigentlichkeit)

4.1 Inauthentic Dasein (Uneigentlichkeit - Primary Mode)

• Das Man (The They): Completely absorbed in "what one does"
  • Dictatorship of Das Man (Diktatur des Man)
  • They-self (Man-selbst) dominates completely
• Idle talk (Gerede): Office gossip, sports scores, weather - no genuine discourse
  • Groundlessness (Bodenlosigkeit)
  • Passing-the-word-along (Weiterrede)
• Curiosity (Neugier): Superficial interest in new tech gadgets, never deep engagement
  • Distraction (Zerstreuung) by novelty
  • Never-dwelling (Unverweilen) anywhere
  • Dispensing with understanding (Aufenthaltslosigkeit)
• Ambiguity (Zweideutigkeit): Unclear about real values; says family matters but works 60 hours
  • Everything ambiguous (zweideutig)
  • Seeming (Schein) replaces being
• Fleeing from death: Workaholism and weekend drinking to avoid confronting mortality
  • Evasion (Ausweichen) before death
  • Covering-over (Verdeckung) mortality
• Tranquilization (Beruhigung): Routine and Netflix provide comfort against anxiety
  • Alienation (Entfremdung) from authentic self
  • Temptation (Versuchung) of the easy path

4.2 Authentic Dasein (Eigentlichkeit - Absent)

• No being-toward-death (Sein-zum-Tode): Treats mortality as distant statistic
  • Evades death as ownmost (eigenste) possibility
  • Covering-over (Verdeckung) of death
• Avoids anxiety (Angst): Medication and distraction suppress it
  • Flees individuation (Vereinzelung)
  • Seeks tranquilization (Beruhigung)
• No resoluteness (Entschlossenheit): Drifts with corporate demands
  • No openness (Offenheit) to authentic possibilities
  • Lacks clarity (Durchsichtigkeit)
• Doesn't own possibilities: Career "happened" to him
  • No authentic choice (Wahl)
  • No seizing-upon (Ergreifen)
• Ignores call of conscience (Ruf des Gewissens) when compromising integrity for bonus
  • Doesn't want-to-have-conscience (Gewissen-haben-wollen)
  • Evades guilt (Schuld) as existential structure

5. Being-with-Others (Mitsein)

5.1 Co-Dasein (Mitdasein)

• Treats colleagues as objects or competitors
  • Others not encountered as Dasein-with (Mitdasein)
  • Deficient modes (defiziente Modi) of being-with
• "Human resources" and "networking contacts"
  • Others as present-at-hand (Vorhandenheit) objects
• Others not recognized as fellow Dasein but as means to advancement
  • No co-existence (Mitexistenz)
  • Indifference (Indifferenz) toward others' being

5.2 Solicitude (Fürsorge)

• Leaping-in (Einspringen): Takes over junior engineers' work to make himself look good
  • Dominating solicitude (Fürsorge)
  • Takes over others' care (Sorge)
• Dominating care that prevents others' authentic development
  • Domination (Beherrschung) not liberation
• Micromanages to maintain control, not to liberate
  • Not leaping-ahead (Vorausspringen)
  • Prevents others' authenticity (Eigentlichkeit)

6. Spatiality (Räumlichkeit)

6.1 De-severance (Ent-fernung)

• Only measurable distance matters: commute time, office location
  • Remoteness (Ferne) understood metrically only
  • No existential bringing-close (Näherung)
• Existentially distant from everything, even family at home
  • Nearness (Nähe) never achieved
• Nothing brought genuinely close through care
  • No authentic de-distancing (Ent-fernung)

6.2 Directionality (Ausrichtung)

• Oriented toward conventional regions: corner office, executive parking, promotion
  • Orientation (Ausrichtung) toward status symbols
  • Region (Gegend) defined by Das Man
• World organized around status markers
  • Placehood (Platz) determined by convention
• No authentic directionality toward meaningful possibilities
  • Whereabouts (Aufenthalt) in inauthentic spaces

7. Death and Finitude (Tod und Endlichkeit)

7.1 Being-toward-death (Sein-zum-Tode)

• Treats death as "what happens to people eventually"
  • Evades death as ownmost (eigenste) possibility
  • Covering-over (Verdeckung) of death's character
• Something distant, impersonal, not ownmost (eigenste) possibility
  • Death not non-relational (unbezüglich)
  • Death reduced to demise (Ableben)
• Death is "medical event" not existential reality
  • Perishing (Verenden) not authentic dying (Sterben)
  • Death as unsurpassable (unüberholbar) denied

7.2 Anticipation of Death (Vorlaufen zum Tode)

• No genuine anticipation: Has will and life insurance but never faces mortality
  • No running-forward (Vorlaufen)
  • Only awaiting (Gewärtigen) death eventually
• Buys retirement plans as if immortal until 65
  • No anticipatory resoluteness (vorlaufende Entschlossenheit)
• Death not understood as individualizing or grounding existence
  • Freedom-toward-death (Freiheit zum Tode) absent
  • Being-toward-the-end (Sein-zum-Ende) evaded

8. Historicality (Geschichtlichkeit)

8.1 Heritage (Erbe)

• Passively inherits engineering conventions: "This is how it's always been done"
  • No active retrieval (Wiederholung)
  • Tradition (Tradition) as dead weight
• No active retrieval of handed-down possibilities
  • Handing-down (Überlieferung) passively accepted
• Tradition is dead conformity, not living heritage
  • Heritage (Erbe) not owned

8.2 Fate (Schicksal)

• Doesn't acknowledge fate: Career "just happened"
  • No fate (Schicksal)
  • Irresolution (Unentschlossenheit)
• No ownership of individual historical existence
  • No authentic historizing (eigentliches Geschehen)
• Drifts through life as if without destiny
  • No choosing one's hero (Wahl seines Helden)

8.3 Destiny (Geschick)

• No genuine communal destiny
  • No destiny (Geschick)
  • No co-historizing (Mitgeschehen)
• Just collection of isolated individuals pursuing self-interest
  • No authentic community (Gemeinschaft)
• Corporate culture is not authentic shared fate but anonymous They-world
  • Generation (Generation) not owned collectively
  • Inauthentic co-existence (Mitexistenz)