Casting Light: Being & Time Pt. 1/2
The Encounter
Today and tomorrow are going to be riskier posts. I want to warn you about that. Soon arrives the 5th anniversary of my 100 days of solo travel. I’ll speak more on that soon enough, but the year after that (in 2018), I wrote another book (attempted, really) matching the exact timeline of that travel that, in contrast, I wrote mostly in one place: Old Towne Orange.
In this attempted book, I wanted to explore a philosophical milestone, Heidegger’s Being and Time, a book known for its difficulty and influence around the question of what does it mean to be?
In preparation of celebrating my travel stories, I want to share two days of this attempted book where I found “understanding” of that travel. I want to share them because:
- I think the practice of philosophy (e.g. questioning) is a healthy, powerful thing
- I love it
I offer these ideas and questions as a quick way to enhance or reframe the coming experiences.
I do hope you enjoy.
Wednesday, September 26th, Day 7 — Orange, CA
I had trouble grabbing the four definitions of “appearance” here, but what I do grab from this reading segment is the relation of phenomena and appearance. Phenomena, from its roots, means “to show itself” while appearance is something that “announces itself”.
This difference might be the same as the difference between showing and telling. But, even more importantly and interestingly, phenomenon connects to something you encounter and appearance connects to a reference-relationship.
P. 31 — “‘Phenomenon’, the showing-itself-in-itself, signifies a distinctive way in which something can be encountered. ‘Appearance’, on the other hand, means a reference-relationship which is in an entity itself…”
I can contain these two distinctions, but the next portion is difficult for me:
“which is such that what does the referring (or the announcing) can fulfill its possible function only if it shows itself in itself and is thus a ‘phenomenon’.”
This second portion might begin with something that strikes us. That is, the aspect that is a point of reference or indicates itself to us, must also draw in attention to itself for us about itself. The red aspect of a rose would be the reference that this is something that appears like something else while also drawing attention to itself as an aspect or total rose. In this way, phenomena works like a sign; it signals something.
That all seems possible. What is interesting is now two things: 1) what does it mean to encounter something, and 2) do all things that appear reconnect as phenomena eventually?
How do we know we encounter something? Our memories will highlight that for us, but what about the moment? What is the connection between phenomena (something that shows itself) and a moment (a time reference)? A moment is the time reference of when an encounter occurred?
And I have to think of my travel now as it is, in some way, a connection of moments. A year ago, I was probably in Lyon, maybe even clubbing on a boat.
More soon,
Trevor