Death in Heidegger's 'Being and time'

Abstract

In order to live authentically, in self-discovery, man must come to accept himself as a being-unto-death. Authenticity depends on a definite choice, an option or a conversion, a conversion, that is, from the security and familiarity of inauthentic existence which is lost in the world. Man's attitude to death is all-important for authentic living. On Heidegger's view, the anguished grasp of the meaning of death as my utmost possibility is what reveals my true essence to me. It has the effect of making all the affairs which seem of deep concern in everyday life, shrink in value. Anticipation of our death loosens the grip of overriding importance attached to the here and now. In this way it exposes the inauthentic character of everyday living for what it is and loads man to assume his authentic mode of being. Common sense would prompt us to think of the constant and uneasy facing up to our death, demanded by authenticity, as having a paralyzing effect on our life. Quite to the contrary, consciousness of death as our most personal possibility vivifies and intensifies the quality of human existence. Life has verve and meaning, Heidegger says, only for the person who lives "in the shadow of death". [...]