Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time isn't exactly a beach read. It’s a 500-page headache. It’s also arguably the most influential work of Continental philosophy from the 20th century. If you’ve ever felt like you’re just "thrown" into the world without a manual, or if you’ve panicked about the fact that you’re eventually going to die, you’re already doing Heideggerian philosophy. You just didn't have the jargon for it.
Most people pick up this book and quit by page thirty. I don't blame them. Heidegger writes like he’s trying to invent a new language because, well, he kind of was. He felt that the entire history of Western thought—from Plato all the way to the 1920s—had completely forgotten to ask the most basic question possible: what does it actually mean to be?
It’s a weird question. We use the word "is" a thousand times a day. The coffee is hot. The sky is blue. I am tired. But we rarely stop to consider the nature of "is-ness" itself. Published in 1927, Being and Time (or Sein und Zeit in the original German) tried to strip away centuries of dusty metaphysical assumptions to look at human existence with fresh, albeit very intense, eyes.
What Most People Get Wrong About Dasein
If you want to understand Being and Time, you have to stop thinking about yourself as a "subject" looking at an "object." That’s the old way. Descartes’ "I think, therefore I am" created a wall between the mind and the world. Heidegger hated that. He used the word Dasein instead. It literally translates to "being-there."
Dasein isn't a thing. It’s an activity. It is the way humans exist.
Think about it this way: you aren't a ghost trapped in a biological machine looking out at a separate world of trees and cars. You are already in the world. You’re entangled in it. When you’re driving to work, you aren't thinking, "I am a subject manipulating a steering wheel object." You’re just driving. The car becomes an extension of you. Heidegger calls this the "ready-to-hand." We only notice things as separate "objects" when they break. When the car stalls, suddenly it’s a "present-at-hand" hunk of metal that you’re analyzing.
👉 See also: How is gum made? The sticky truth about what you are actually chewing
This shift is huge. It means our fundamental state isn't one of detached thinking, but of caring or concern. We are always already involved in projects. We have stuff to do. Life is a series of involvements.
The Horror of The They and Finding Your Own Path
One of the most relatable parts of Being and Time is Heidegger’s roast of "The They" (Das Man).
Ever feel like you’re living on autopilot? You wear certain clothes because "that’s what people wear." You hold opinions because "that’s what people think." You’re living an inauthentic life. Heidegger isn't being a snob here; he’s saying this is our default setting. It’s comfortable to lose ourselves in the crowd. It protects us from the terrifying realization that we are responsible for our own lives.
"The They" is like a giant social algorithm that pre-interprets the world for us. It tells us what’s important and what’s trash. But the cost of this comfort is our own selfhood. We become interchangeable.
How do you break out? Usually, it’s through Anxiety. Not the "I have a presentation tomorrow" kind of anxiety, but a deep, fundamental dread. This happens when the world suddenly loses its meaning. Your hobbies feel pointless. Your job feels like a sham. In that moment of "uncanniness," you realize that "The They" can’t actually tell you who you are. You’re on your own.
✨ Don't miss: Curtain Bangs on Fine Hair: Why Yours Probably Look Flat and How to Fix It
Being-Towards-Death: The Ultimate Productivity Hack?
This is where the book gets dark but strangely motivating. Heidegger argues that the only way to live an authentic life is to confront our own mortality.
Most people treat death as something that happens to "other people" at "some later date." We treat it like a distant appointment. Heidegger calls this "fleeing." He wants us to practice Being-towards-death.
This doesn't mean being a goth or obsessing over funerals. It means acknowledging that your time is finite. Death is the "possibility of the impossibility." It’s the one thing nobody else can do for you. When you truly realize your time is running out, the petty distractions of "The They" lose their power. You stop caring about what "people" think and start making choices that actually matter to you. It’s the ultimate wake-up call.
Why the Book is Still Controversial
We have to address the elephant in the room. Heidegger’s personal life was, frankly, a disaster. He joined the Nazi Party in 1933 and never really offered a full, public apology for it after the war.
This leaves readers in a tough spot. Can you separate the philosophy from the philosopher? Some scholars, like Emmanuel Levinas, argued that Heidegger’s focus on "Being" rather than "Ethics" left a vacuum that allowed for his political choices. Others say the insights in Being and Time about human existence are so fundamental that they transcend his personal failings.
🔗 Read more: Bates Nut Farm Woods Valley Road Valley Center CA: Why Everyone Still Goes After 100 Years
It’s a debate that hasn't cooled down even eighty years later. Hannah Arendt, his former student and lover, spent much of her life grappling with his brilliance and his moral blindness. It’s a reminder that being a genius at "Thinking" doesn't automatically make you a genius at "Living."
Making Sense of Being and Time Today
Honestly, you don't need a PhD to get something out of this. You just need to look at your own life.
Think about the "Throwness" (Geworfenheit). You didn't choose to be born in this century, in your country, or with your specific family. You were just tossed here. You’re already in the middle of a story you didn't start. But while you can’t change where you started, Heidegger argues that you are a "projection." You are always aiming toward the future.
Your life isn't a fixed thing like a rock; it’s a clearing where meanings happen.
Practical Steps for the Curious Reader
If you’re actually going to tackle the book, don't just dive into the Macquarrie and Robinson translation and hope for the best. You'll drown.
- Get a Companion Guide: Read Stephen Mulhall’s Heidegger and Being and Time or listen to the Hubert Dreyfus lectures. Dreyfus was a legend at UC Berkeley who made Heidegger sound like a regular guy talking about hammers and social norms.
- Focus on Division I: The book is technically unfinished. Division I is where the "Being-in-the-world" stuff happens. It’s much more accessible than the later sections on temporality.
- Watch for the Keywords: If you see words like Sorge (Care), Facticity, or Aletheia (Truth as Unconcealment), slow down. These are the hinges the whole argument turns on.
- Audit Your "They" Time: Notice when you’re doing something just because "that’s what one does." You don't have to quit your job and move to a cabin in the Black Forest (like Heidegger did), but just noticing the influence of the collective "They" is the first step toward authenticity.
The book isn't meant to be "finished." It’s meant to be lived with. It’s a tool for prying yourself out of the mundane and realizing that the very fact that you exist—and that you know you exist—is the most mysterious thing in the universe.
Start by noticing the "ready-to-hand" objects in your room. Stop seeing them as just things and see them as part of your world. That’s where the philosophy actually begins.