Title: Justifying our existence : an essay in applied phenomenology /
Authors: Nicholson, Graeme
Publisher: University of Toronto Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Heidegger, Martin,; Ontology.; Phenomenology.
Abstract: "In his magnum opus Being and Time (1927), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) argued that individuals have assumed that their existence is 'a given, ' when in fact they simply have the ability to be. Justifying Our Existence examines the ways in which human beings attempt to create meaning in their lives, often by magnifying and proving their existence through phenomena such as self-righteousness, careerism, nationalism, and religion." "In this study, Graeme Nicholson analyses Heidegger's methods to indicate how his work has a practical application for existential concerns. Nicholson shows how phenomenology, as defined by Heidegger, can be used to explore fundamental questions of human existence, while shedding new light on important aspects of human behaviour and the motivation behind many of our social systems. Justifying Our Existence touches on many realms of everyday human experience - both political and personal while offering fresh insights on one of the twentieth century's most important philosophers."--Jacket.
Contents: Introduction -- Life, Existence, Being -- Phenomenology -- How Our Being Concerns Us -- Ability to Be -- Existence -- Die Sorge: Care, Concern -- Phenomenology of Da-sein: the Self -- Phenomenology of Existence: Ecstasis -- Being as the Ability to Be -- 'Letter on Humanism' -- Excursus: 'Exist' in the Philosophical Tradition -- Transition: Formalism and Application -- Magnifying the Self -- Phenomenology and Hermeneutics -- Meaning of Success -- Failure -- Achievement -- Magnifying the Self and Magnifying its Being -- Justifying the Self -- Morality -- Concept of Justification -- Inauthenticity -- Phenomenology of Inauthenticity -- Shame and Remorse -- Conscience and Guilt -- Ascetic Autonomy -- Magnifying the Community -- Existence and Community -- Magnifying the Polis -- Nation: Magnitude through justification -- Militant Religion -- Justifying the Community -- Caring for the Polis -- Existence and History -- Nation and Civilization -- Spiritual Existence -- What Is Spirit? -- Existing Spirit -- Phenomenology of Spirit: Intensity -- Problem of Grounding -- God and the Self -- Forgiveness and Justification -- Spiritual Community -- Conclusion -- Heidegger's Question Concerning the Meaning of Being.