Phenomenology of Death

Before the midterms, we were asked to submit a reaction paper or book review in our Philosophy of Man class. An article that caught my attention was "Martin Heidegger's Phenomenology of Death." At least the title made me grab the book because I thought it would satisfy my search for the true meaning of death and everything after it. But it was disappointing. I expressed it in my paper. However, the article was still worth reading. I didn't believe in destiny or fate. But now I realize that every one of us is destined... to die. I knew that all of us will eventually die. I just didn't see it as destiny...

If you don’t like the word death, then don’t read this. I have mentioned death several times throughout the article. I started writing this just a few days before the deadline. I procrastinate sometimes.

MARTIN HEIDEGGER’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF DEATH

Jan Carlo Tuclaud
BSCS – 3
Philosophy 102
August 22, 2005

Martin Heidegger’s Phenomenology of Death is written by Manuel B. Dy, Jr. The article is published in the same author’s book Philosophy of Man in page 253.

Dy explains in the article about death as how Martin Heidegger defines it through the phenomenological method. It does not talk about the concept of afterlife but rather about how man usually perceives – and how man should perceive – death.

So what is death according to Heidegger? Before explaining his phenomenology of death, Dy starts defining confusing terms like Dasein, Care, ahead-of-itself, and other simple words that were put together with hyphens to represent some other complex concept. I have however understood one essential term – being-towards-death, which refers to man and his attitude towards death. I will further talk about this later.

Heidegger argues that death should not be defined on the basis of the life after it, if there is. As Dy says in the article, “No one has ever come out alive from death to tell us about death.” I was disappointed at this. I have a lot of questions about the afterlife so I was expecting this article answers them. Nevertheless, I do agree with the author. How will we describe the phase from the point of death to everything after it? There are religious beliefs, each painting a picture of life after death. Who preached these ideas? The prophets. They are dead now. However, they never experienced death when they were still preaching. How can they be sure of the afterlife they believe? For all we know, the prophets could have fooled us. Besides, phenomenology is a process of attempting to disclose the reality of a subject, which in this case is death.

Heidegger tried to describe death from the point of view of a living man. He sought real and existing experiences to aid him in phenomenology. So again, what is death for Heidegger?

Death is man’s transition between his existence and non-existence. Such transition, according to Heidegger, cannot be experienced. Personally, this might not be entirely true. If there really is an afterlife, then man, or at least his consciousness, continues to experience. However, the afterlife experience cannot be relayed to the living world. Afterlife events stay in the afterlife world because the dead cannot return to life. There is this concept of ‘ghost,’ which stands on the foundation of the dualistic notion of man. But this body-and-soul notion is just a theory, an unproven idea. Therefore everything related to this concept, including the existence of ghosts, is unproven. I have heard accounts of people dying and then waking up after a few days. Unbelievable! The ‘resurrected’ might have just been on comatose or something. Even if he was proven to be dead, no heartbeat and all, I’m still skeptic. I don’t give in to superficial miracles. Somehow, there must be a reasonable explanation. Whether there is an afterlife or none, what truly happens on death and after it is beyond the scope of the living man’s knowledge.

Heidegger claims that death is not something that happens but something impending. It is part of one’s existence. It is part of man’s nature. I believe that. Immortality is impossible. Death will never fail to perform its job in every living thing. In every man, death awaits. As Heidegger says, death makes the man complete. In dying, man is proven to be man – a mortal who existed. Death is not the enemy of man. It is his destiny; his fulfillment; his wholeness. Once the man exists at birth, he immediately starts his journey to death. Heidegger’s phenomenology of death is about man as a being-towards-death.

Heidegger asserts that man should be aware of all his potentialities an existing being, as a being-in-the-world. One of these potentialities is the loss of his own existence, which is death. So it is important for man not to be too absorbed as a being-in-the-world.

A being-towards-death attitude though is not always proper. Heidegger observed that there is ‘inauthentic’ being-towards-death. This kind of man sees death as something general instead of taking it personally. He will say something like, “People die… one of these days one will die too, in the end; but right now, it has nothing to do with us.” Such attitude does not accept that death can come anytime, like the next minute. In personal experience, I go about doing things as if my tomorrow will always come. I say, “Bukas ko na lang ‘to gawin.” But what if I die before bukas comes? Then I have just made a plan which I have not and cannot be fulfilled.

Dy mentions that the inauthentic being-towards-death is aware of the possibility of death. However he looks at the death of a ‘one,’ which is actually nobody. He evades the possibility of his own death being near. He thinks that thinking about death is weakness. But for me, the denial of the spontaneity of death is true weakness and cowardice. The inauthentic being-towards-death instead busies himself with everyday matters.

Now the authentic being-towards-death is the man who anticipates death. Man should embrace the indefiniteness of this possibility. In accepting this possibility, “man frees himself,” as the article says. It means that he is freed from the false perception of the inauthentic being-towards-death – that his own death would not come soon. The authentic being-towards-death understands his wholeness with the possibility of death. In personal reflection, this attitude makes man act as if it is his last day. It doesn’t mean that he would prepare for his burial or write his last will. The man aware of the unpredictability of dying would most likely be less covetous with the material world. So what if I lost my job, was embarrassed, or got robbed? These events are futile after death. The authentic being-towards-death does not mean irresponsibility or carelessness. It just makes man take things more lightly as he lives. This way, he wouldn’t be too focused and disturbed with his temporal existence.

Death grants man the insight of the significance of his every action. If he can die anytime, then that means any of his actions can be his last action. This is an important thought for people of religion. It is usually the last action of the living man that determines his judgment in the afterlife. Grasping the possibility of death motivates man to always make the right move as much as possible.