What is the relationship of the present-at-hand to the ready-to-hand? How is the present-at hand prior? How is the ready-to-hand prior?

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Vincent M. Entac

                                                                                                            GSI: Forrest

                                                                               Tues. 1400

      Philosophy 185

Heidegger’s Being and Time

Topic #1:  What is the relationship of the present-at-hand to the ready-to-hand?  How is the present-at hand prior?  How is the ready-to-hand prior?

        The relationship between present-at-hand and ready-to-hand is based in Heidegger’s concept of “equipment” and Being’s relationship to it.  Present-at-hand and ready-to hand are both modes of being, in which equipment plays an important role.  In our most basic way of dealing with things we deal with them as equipment.  “Equipment is essentially in-order-to…”, that is to say that equipment, in and of itself, is something to be used in-order-to.  An example of this is my keyboard; I’m using it in-order-to write my paper.  This idea of something in-order-to is essential to equipment, and to the understanding of the relationship between ready-to-hand and present-at-hand.

        The thing that is important here is the nature of equipment.  Equipment’s essence is fundamentally towards other equipment.  Whereby equipment is what it is only by its relationship to other equipment.  “Equipment… always is in terms of its belonging to other equipment.” An example is a screwdriver is only a screwdriver because of its relationship to screws.  The screwdriver has an in-order-to, which is in-order-to screw or unscrew.  But in-order-to screw or unscrew one would have to possess not only the screwdriver, but a screw also.  This example shows that the relationship of equipment to other equipment is essential.  Equipment is what is it is by belonging to a “referential totality”.  The totality, however, doesn’t go on forever, but rather ends in a “for-the-sake-of”, an ultimate end.  

        Our Being’s, or as Heidegger puts it, our Dasein have a fundamental relationship with equipment.  Moreover, equipment is realized as what it is only through its interaction with Dasein.  Though Dasein has no properties in the form of subject/object predication, it does have modes of being.  Two of Dasein’s modes of being towards equipment are the present-at-hand, and the ready-to-hand.  As stated earlier, equipment is what it is, always in reference to other equipment; furthermore each piece can be placed in a “referential totality”, which will relate in some way to something Dasein is concerned with.  The way the modes of being relate are through Dasein, whereby Dasein lights up a piece of equipment as what it is.  Primordially, Dasein doesn’t prearrange the world in terms of its belief, nor does it engage the world through its sense perceptions.  Rather, Dasein sees the world as ready-to-hand first and present-at-hand a secondary category of relationships.

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        When a piece of equipment is being used as what it is supposed to be used for, Heidegger calls that ready-to-hand.  “Entities show up as at our disposal.”  When Dasein encounters the world it does so as a totality, with a frame of reference.  Equipment within that totality is able to be “manipulated” because it is at our disposal.  This is important because by using an object the way it is supposed to be used, it shows that objects manipulability.  This in turn this usage of equipment leads to the ready-at-hand mode of being.  “The kind of Being which equipment ...

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