Maro responds:

Here is Prin. She has entered my chamber now. We don’t know what she was like before she entered. But we do remember a first impression. In a university residence there is something called a common room. This is where the young come to flaunt newly acquired mannerisms. I, myself, have mannerisms. And the one that I choose to flaunt is sitting an watching everyone else. She is flitting from lap to lap. I am trying to figure out if she’s got a boyfriend and if he might be correlated to one o’those laps. She finally settles down in the arms of the young woman sittin across from me.





Tonight we are going to a meat market. Prin claims to have no use for meat markets, but neither of us can think of anywhere else to go. We will dance in soft coloured light surrounded by vibrant tones and watchful eyes. She will tell many lies to every man that approaches her. I will stand by and simply nod in dumb-founded silence. These are the times that we have had, and I continue to cherish them. No matter what anyone says.
On the dance floor, once she’s had several drinks to get her going, she will grab my arm and pull me close. This is when I’m supposed to know that i’s appropriate for me to dance with her in celebration of sexy girlishness. But I always fail the test, not likin to be touched by anyone, in this way, in public. I’s unfortunate. I can feel her disappointment. She wans to attract as many eyes as possible. She needs this glamour and I failed her once again. The weakest link, she’ll say afterwards.
In the cab home she is tellin the driver all about how she grew up in the Pane and Pinch hood. I find the whole story very amusing. The truth is that Prin grew up on the ultimately right side of the tracks. Her parents worked very, very hard to set their palace up there and buy her Christian Dior baby clothes and send her to this uppity private school downtown.

Prin is with her highschool cronies. They have cut class again. They are cruising in Melody’s parents’ Beamer. The dare is: drive up to the corner of Pane and Pinch, open the door, and TOUCH THE GROUND. giggle giggle. When this mission is accomplished the Beamer peals off again, leavin the poverty-stricken mess in the dust.

Prin is combing her hair. She got curlies coming out from behind every ear.
“Are you ready to go?” she says.
At first I don’t hear. I’m too busy scoping out her record collection, none of which she listens to. She has decked me out in ribbons and bows and garters tonight. For this I will never forgive her. Some day I’ll get her back, but not now. Night time is her time, afterall.
“Yeah. Yes. Can I borrow the John Tesh remix some day?”
“Only if you promise to bring it back.”
“Don’t I always?” I am grinning as I say this.
We are surrounded by blue in her tower tonight. She says she’s “been blue” for some time now. Though I know she just put this colour up last week.
“No, really. You have to bring it back. My father bought it for me.”
Her father bought everything for her, ‘cept for the stuff that her mother bought for her.
“And no scratches or anything this time.”
“What the hell are you talking bout?” I almost added ‘bitch’ there, but decided that wouldn’t be a good idea. She’s been blue lately, she’d probably start crying or something.
“I’m talkin bout dat Liz Phair disc that I lent you a while ago. D’one dat now has a skip in it.”
Crazy bitch. She can get real gawdam pissy when she wants.
“And I s’pose that’s all my fault.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying that it’s a pretty strange coincidence that when I finally get it back from you it turns out to have a skip in it that it did not have before I lent it to you.”
“Whateva.”
What does she care? She can jus go ask her daddy to buy her another one. Prin once got a job all by herself. It was tough work, but she pulled it off. She actually asserted some independence for a whole summer. Got herself her own place. I even lived with her for a while there. Well, I guess it was more like I crashed on her couch a lotta the time. But I did help out with the rent. Why did her parents expect her to live at home anyway? Because they needed her. They needed to give her orders in person, feed her, wash her, and fuck her over on a regular basis. This is what she refused to keep going along with. I remember I once stayed over at their palace. I slept on a leather couch in their entertainment room. She was very worried that her grandfather would “wake me up” in the morning. “He’s so loud,” she said, wrinkling up her nose. But he never laid a sonoric hand on me. She seemed surprised by this, and still preferred me to sleep with her up in the loft.


Ready TO Hand versus Ready AT Hand:
Are you ahead of yourself? Perhaps your care is expressing itself through your ‘I’ function. “In terms of care the constancy of the Self, as the supposed persistence of the subjectum, gets clarified.”

Yeah, ok, Maro. I know my Heidegger.
“But the phenomenon of this authentic potentiality-for-Being also opens our eyes for the constancy of the Self in the sense of its having achieved some sort of position.”
Yeah, I know de passage you’re talkin bout Maro. Being and Time is Being and Time is Being and Time. Tell me, does this postmodern shit help you out any?

...

I didn’t’hink so.

“The constancy of the Self, in the double sense of steadiness and steadfastness, is the authentic counter-possibility to the non-Self-constancy which is characteristic of irresolute falling.”

“Existentially, ‘Self constancy’ signifies nothing other than anticipatory resoluteness.”

What are you tryin to say, Maro. I know all bout authenticity.

Essentially, Dasein is a being for whom Being is an issue. This issue becomes lost in the shuffle of its average-everday life. In order to live an authentic life Dasein must own up to its existence. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with living inauthentically. Heidegger does not view an inauthentic life as sinful or as containing a type of inherent evil1. This is mainly due to the fact that those who are living an inauthentic life are for the most part doing so unknowingly. A Dasein that is fully immersed in the They has no idea that anything is wrong. The moment before death (when Dasein alone, is inescapably confronted with the finiteness of its own Being and the groundlessness of its existence) might bring about a sudden revelation of mineness that will expose the veil of inauthenticity. The inauthentic Dasein will come to the realization that all actions and decisions up to that point were made in relation to a They that is really no one at all. This Dasein will have a couple seconds of anguish and then it will be over. Where the real trouble lies is with the capacitated, full-life-ahead-of-it Dasein that somehow catches a brief glimpse of the veil or becomes fully aware of the veil of the They (perhaps during a mid-life crisis, or through reading Being and Time). This Dasein is then cursed with the difficult task of establishing an authentic existence in the face of the They, for once the veil is revealed Dasein is faced with the conscious choice of living behind it. The real sin lies not in the losing of the Self (for that is inevitable) but in the choosing of an inauthentic life over an authentic one.
In this essay I am going to examine Dasein’s journey into authenticity. Heidegger sets up a trajectory for Dasein that tracks a ‘fall’ into inauthentic living and a consequent redemption that lifts it back up again. I will be treating Heidegger’s description as a narrative in which Dasein is the star. We will start off with Dasein’s Relation to Others, and end with my own personal notion of Full-blown Authenticity, in all of its glory. Along the way we will be stopping off at Empathy, Anxiety, and Anticipation. We will also be spending a fair amount of time in the They’s Evasion of Death (it’s not as bad as it seems). By addressing these issues in a benign, trite fashion I hope to neutralize some of the negative associations that accompany the terms used in Heidegger’s description of inauthentic living. I will attempt to demonstrate that while Heidegger places negative connotations on the They, these do not necessarily translate over to the They-Self. It is only the authentic Dasein (or a Dasein on its way to authenticity) that can deem the inauthentic life as non-preferential.

We will begin with Dasein’s “Being-with towards others”2. It’s difficult to discern at what point exactly Dasein loses itself to inauthenticity. Heidegger seems to trace it to the moment when Dasein must take up a stance with regards to the Other. We can assume that this would be fairly early on in life. Dasein becomes inauthentic by default, not necessarily by choice. Dasein has no choice but to be with others and this Being-with constitutes its worldhood3. When Dasein originally encounters another Dasein there is a type of empathy that takes place. Dasein sees another Dasein and projects itself on to that Other. It can be argued that once Dasein is able to recognize itself, this type of projection happens between two Daseins as an immediate, knee-jerk type of reaction. Heidegger takes care to emphasize that, “empathy does not first constitute Being-with”4, however this could prove to be a point of contention. In any case, to Heidegger empathy serves to mask Dasein’s true self from itself. Dasein’s concern towards others becomes its downfall. Dasein’s genuine understanding of itself is distorted as it takes refuge in its projection on to the Other.
The merging point with the They occurs when Dasein can no longer refer to itself, when it must continually refer to the They as a source. By this time Dasein has already taken up a stance of distantiality with regards to itself. Its own feelings and thoughts have become mediated by the They. Dasein has now become the They-self, it is fully immersed in the world of concerns5. The veil has been lowered.
Inside the They-self
While Heidegger is careful to maintain that inauthenticity is not a ‘lower’ degree of Being he does not give a very favorable description of what it’s like to be inside the They:
Every kind of priority gets noiselessly suppressed. Overnight, everything that is primordial
gets glossed over as something that has long been well known. Everything gained by a
struggle becomes just something to be manipulated. Every secret loses its force.
Being and Time, p. 165
From this passage we can discern that Heidegger holds a particular disdain for the They. Publicness dogs Dasein’s everydayness and continually levels all genuine feelings down to “something familiar and accessible to everyone”. This includes every goal that Dasein may strive for and every judgment that Dasein makes, for all possibilities for Being have already been pre-ordained by the They. The biggest irony is that the They is really no one at all. The They wrestles away all of Dasein’s accountability and yet remains unaccountable itself. Dasein in all its everydayness has entrusted its care over to the They who is actually no on in particular, so that just about everything that Dasein achieves by the end of the day has really been accomplished by nobody. This may seem like a bad thing, but by this point Dasein has completely forgotten about itself anyway. It has no idea that it’s lost anything. In fact, the very innocuousness of the They is what keeps its incredible hold on the inauthentic Dasein. It is through Dasein’s own ignorance that the They maintains its dominion.
The pinnacle achievement of the They and at the same time its own downfall is its comportment towards death. The They pushes the event of death away from Dasein with a vengeance. The They treats death with the same irreverence that it treats everything else. It is always occurring somewhere else, to someone else. It has no particular relevance to any one Dasein. While it is an unalterable fact that we will all die some day, the They is very good at making sure that death remains just an unalterable fact and not a reality that is to be owned-up to. This is perhaps because death is the one event that will not allow a substitution. No one (particularly a nobody like They) can take on Dasein’s death for it. Death is the point at which the They terminates. It is completely non-relational and completely unavoidable. This is what the They is trying to conceal. The They “provides a constant tranquilization about death”7. This is less for the sake of the Dasein that dies and more for the sake of the Dasein who is left behind. Those who die have no need to be consoled about death, it is only those who must constantly live in the face of it that require consolation. The They administers this consolation by removing the face of death. The inauthentic Dasein falls through life never really knowing death. The They ensures “an untroubled indifference towards the uttermost possibility of existence” for Dasein, so that it might live on as though death were not an immediate concern. The They relieves Dasein of its own feelings towards death.

Anxiety becomes the Saving Grace
Every inauthentic Dasein carries around within it the seed for redemption. How can Dasein find its way out of the They-self? In order to live authentically, Dasein must stop looking through the veil of the They and instead hold it up for scrutiny. What agent could possibly allow Dasein to become aware of the mediation of the They? If we were to view the journey into authenticity as an alchemical transformation the catalyst would be death and the reagent would be anxiety. As an indeterminate mood anxiety reveals to Dasein the uncertainty of its own death. Fear can be attributed to the They’s superficial concept of death, but because anxiety has no direct cause Dasein is forced to search for its source. Anxiety pokes a hole in the veil of the They. It whispers into Dasein’s ear and tells it that the They is hiding something. An element of incompletion is introduced and dwelled upon. Dasein is in a mood. Suddenly, something is missing. Dasein has forgotten something. What could it be? It is at this point that the They’s hold on Dasein could begin to loosen, for once it starts on a search of this nature there will be no consoling Dasein. This is the moment of purgatory for Dasein. It has caught a glimpse of the They that it cannot ever forget, and yet Dasein has not set upon the path of authenticity. While there is nothing wrong with inauthentic living for the They-self, a Dasein that has been lifted out of the They-self can never be completely immersed into it again. This is when the sin occurs. Unless anxiety is unleashed it will never occur to the They-self that there even is a veil of the They. Once anxiety has illuminated the veil Dasein can’t help but see it. Dasein now has the choice to attempt to lose itself back in the They or to attempt to push the veil aside. Why would any self-respecting Dasein choose the They after having glimpsed the veil? Because death is waiting on the other side of that veil. The They offers an easy out to death. Dasein can rest in the certainty that death is coming but it’s still a long way off. Authentic Being does not allow this. Death is occupying the immediate space on the other side of that veil, and yet no matter how close the living Dasein gets to it s/he can never know it. Death is the inauthentic Dasein’s missing piece, but remains itself incomplete for the duration of life. It’s not until death that Dasein will ever completely tear the veil of the They away. Dasein must always concern itself with its Being-with towards others. The only difference between the authentic and the inauthentic Dasein is knowledge. Authentic Dasein possesses immediate knowledge of death and therefore immediate knowledge of self because it is keenly aware of its own potentiality for Being. The inauthentic Dasein lives towards the end but does so in ignorance. The They-self only knows the They, it has no idea what it’s missing.

Anticipation=Emancipation
In order for Dasein to be authentic Heidegger advises Dasein to essentially carry death around on his or her shoulder. Instead of gliding toward it inadvertently as the They advocates, Dasein should take death up, hold it close and never let it stray too far from Being. In short, anticipation of death allows Dasein the ultimate mineness. By carrying death around Dasein will never lose sight of its own potentiality of Being. Dasein lives authentically by holding-for-true the projection of itself towards death (rather than on to the Other). Death acts as the catalyst that can unlock Dasein’s true self. Dasein is born into life and it is certain that Dasein will die out of it. Dasein could go at any moment. Death serves as a strong reminder of the They. Death tells Dasein that existence is groundless. Meaning can only be found in Dasein’s own genuine thoughts and feelings, not in the herd mentality of the They. The non-relational aspects of death will force Dasein to take a stance towards mineness. Dasein will also have to address the possibility of the ultimate loss of its mineness, the ultimate loss of Self.
Heidegger warns against brooding about death. There is nothing that we can do to prepare for it. On the other hand, we cannot dismiss death as something that is certainly on its way. It is out of our control and yet it remains a constant possibility. The very fact that death is always a possibility should open up all the possibilities that Dasein has for living. Indeed, death is the end of all possibility with regards to existence. The authentic Dasein can use this to disclose its “ownmost potentiality-for-Being”8. In this way Dasein can carry on with its everyday activities but with a keen awareness of its Being and the ever-present possibilities for Being. That is all that authenticity is. There is no inherent good contained in it. An authentic Dasein simply comports itself differently towards existence.
The end result of this alchemical transformation may or may not be gold. Who is to be the judge? The redeemed Dasein is still subject to all of the pain and suffering that an inauthentic Dasein will be exposed to. The only difference is that the authentic Dasein has a mechanism other than the They to cope with it. The only Dasein that views the They-self as a non-preferential state is an authentic Dasein. Heidegger even goes so far as to suggest that the authentic Dasein could take up the cause of liberating others from the They-self as a form of authentic care. However, if existence is groundless anyway then what duty would any authentic Dasein have to an inauthentic Dasein, or to any Dasein for that matter? Who can objectively say that living authentically is any better than living inauthentically? At the end of the day Dasein is either surrendering itself over to a faceless They or a groundless Being.



...

Well, so what? I’s’posed to make me feel better that I’m suddenly more HUMAN jus because I’m doubting the contents of my own self. Big fuckin deal. As if Kretschmar would ever care. Dat would jus be another notch in her belt of acheivements. Who cares bout bein human. I fuckin hate humans. They’re a disgustin lot.
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