In Being and Time, States-of-mind show “how one is”.

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Jeremiah Smith

Philosophy 418

Essay #3-Final, Question #2

Dr. Piotr Hoffman

2/13/01

In Being and Time, States-of-mind show "how one is". Similar to moods, states-of-mind are the barometers of the 'is' of a dasein. Anxiety as a state-of-mind reveals that dasin is anxious. Anxiety is primordially a state-of-mind, and similar to fear and falling states-of-mind. Anxiety as a state-of-mind is a categorical demarcation, and does not pertain to dasein without explanation of how anxiety is anxious. How the state-of-mind of anxiety discloses itself to dasein, through entities within the world as well as dasein's being in the world is key.

In paragraph 34, Heidegger explains the notion of falling, dealing with how dasein becomes immersed in the "they" or the others around him as well as how dasein is immersed in his concernful dealings in the world1. This is the conceptual framework in which he wishes to place the notion of Anxiety. Fleeing, the action surrounding falling is in the face of falling. "Dasein's falling into the 'they' and the 'world' of its concern is what we have called 'fleeing' in the face of itself"2. It, like the anxiousness of anxiety is the activity related to a state-of-mind that often lies dormant or unrealized by dasein, and is only made manifest in the face of something. Involved in this character of falling, is dasein's propensity to turn away from itself, to flee from itself, "...in accordance with its ownmost inertia".3 Thus limiting daseins throwness towards its possibilities within the world, and hence limiting its ability for authentically being-one's-self.

Anxiety is related to fear, and fleeing as the likely state of mind that discloses these other states of mind; falling, fear and fleeing. Anxiety as a phenomenon of moods performs the essential function of disclosing things to dasein, much like concern to the ready-to-hand. For anxiety, or fear to manifest itself, there must be some activity, which Heidegger calls "Shrinking away". This is a manifestation of fear as a state-of-mind, and possesses the character of fleeing. A prerequisite for this particular kind of activity is there must be something to be afraid of. Some concrete object-threatening to dasein-in the world with a location and a being of its own. Anxiety of the world in general or dasein's anxiety about being in the world is what separates it from the state of mind of fear, which requires a "detrimental entity". They are ontologically linked to each other (fear and anxiety) through falling... "The turning away of falling is grounded in anxiety, which in turn is what first makes fear possible".4
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Anxiety, unlike fear of falling, has no knowledge of where threatening objects arise. It has an experience of general uncertainty from all sides in regards to things that it finds threatening. Things do not have to be absolute in their threatening nature, meaning things may not pose threats to dasein, but only appear to. Anxiety has no concept of where threats are coming from in a directional sense. Anxiety is described by Heidegger as a modern psychologist might. As an all-encompassing tension that has no spatiality or definite position, yet does exist- as that which anxiety is in ...

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