Heidegger is giving me cancer

[Cole]

Howdy,

I am having a bit of trouble getting down the distinctions in the cancer example (h.) in this weeks lecture video. At 53:20 you point out the ready-to-hand revealing the whole world/context of equipment, but did you mean to say present-to-hand? In contrast at 54min you then say present-to-hand lights up world which makes more sense to me but I don’t understand why it would be both. I guess I could see it being both as somehow related to(if I am understanding the excerpt correctly see bottom page 3)the present-to-hand being really just part of the ready-to-hand structure as un-ready-to-hand? In the video at 101:18 you state “present-to hand-experience is looking at the world theoretically in order to fix it”. It sounds like the present-to-hand is a special mode of the ready-to-hand is that why? Are you saying in the cancer example, the ready-to-hand-as-present-to-hand is lighting up equipmental totality as ready-to-hand?

So am I headed in the right direction if I am thinking…

k. How would your life goals appear to you if you were diagnosed with terminal cancer?

Being diagnosed with terminal cancer would make my health, time left on earth, i.e. life appear as present-to-hand. The resulting present-to-hand appearance of my life, as missing, or my cancer as in the way, would light up why I am living, or my life goals, in circumspection, as ready-to-hand (life goals being what my life was originally ready-to-hand for, Heidegger calls the for “work and ready-to-hand too” bottom of page 2 ).

Any pointers appreciated,

Cole

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Cole,

No way! I have never heard that mistake before, but, yes, I should have said “present-at-hand” at 53:20 in the video. Ooh, actually, that is very Heideggerian: I am so familiar with what I expect myself to say there that I don’t even notice that it is wrong when I am listening. You know, it’s like “intentional perception” in my example of seeing squiggles on a board and seeing “B” or “13”. I didn’t even hear my mistake.

So, to be clear, death is a present-at-hand break in our timeline that should cause us to study our ready-to-hand tools and ready-to-hand tasks and reveal the whole world of ready-to-hand projects to re-evaluate their worth. Death lights up that ready-to-hand world. So, what I am saying is, your last paragraph is brilliant.

Thanks, Jeff

[Cole]

Thanks, this clears it up!

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