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Heidegger & Descartes: Being-in-the-world, Care, Anxiety & Existentialism

12:201,430 summary words · ~7 min readEnglishBy Then & NowTranscribed Jun 19, 2026

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Summary

Heidegger upends Descartes' 'cogito ergo sum' by arguing that being-in-the-world and care (Sorge) are ontologically prior to cognitive doubt, framing Cartesian skepticism itself as an anxious, secondary coping mechanism rather than an ultimate foundation.

Overcoming the Cartesian mind-body split changes how we conceptualize everything from modern psychiatry and mental health to computer-mind models, shifting our focus from a disembodied spectator to an actively engaged, temporal agent.

Section summaries

Introduction: Descartes' Cogito and the Philosophy of Mind

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The video begins by reviewing René Descartes' foundational quest for certainty, which led him to define himself as a 'thinking thing' (cogito). Descartes lists various modes of thinking, such as doubting, imagining, and perceiving, establishing a dualistic foundation for the modern philosophy of mind. This segment sets the stage for Martin Heidegger's 20th-century response, which seeks to analyze the fundamental nature of existence from a completely different ontological starting point.

Descartes established the 'cogito' as the indubitable foundation for science and philosophy.
His list of thinking modes includes doubting, denying, and understanding, which separate mind-stuff from physical-stuff.

Essential for understanding the Cartesian baseline that Heidegger's phenomenology aims to deconstruct.

Heidegger's Reversal: Prioritizing the Sum over the Cogito

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This section introduces Martin Heidegger's key disagreement with Descartes. While Descartes proclaimed 'cogito ergo sum' (thinking therefore being), Heidegger argues that Descartes neglected the 'sum' (the nature of being itself). Heidegger claims we are, first and foremost, 'beings-in-the-world,' suggesting that our existence is inherently unified with our environment rather than isolated inside a disembodied mind.

Heidegger prioritizes ontology (being) over Descartes' epistemology (knowing).
The hyphenated term 'being-in-the-world' represents the primordial unity of subjective experience and objective reality.

Contains the core philosophical pivot of the entire video.

Care (Sorge) as the True Foundation of Thought

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The narrator explores Heidegger's concept of 'care' (Sorge) by analyzing Descartes' own motivations. Before Descartes could construct his radical skepticism, he had to actively care about science, math, and religion. Heidegger argues that this care, or existential focus and intentionality, is structurally prior to any cognitive operations like doubting or reasoning.

Our active care and concern for things in the world precedes any analytical thoughts about them.
Heidegger's 'facticity' shows that human existence is always already dispersed into active modes like producing, attending, and using.

Explains how Heidegger replaces Cartesian intellectualism with a pragmatic, care-based existential framework.

The Practical Motives Behind Doubting and Care

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The video analyzes why humans care to question or doubt things in the first place, stripping doubt of its purely abstract status. Doubting is a goal-oriented action aimed at securing reliable, predictable information to navigate the world and satisfy basic survival drives. We care about the validity and authenticity of our truth claims because our practical, temporal existence depends on it.

Doubt is not a detached intellectual state, but an active, goal-oriented operation on an object of thought.
Existential care is driven by the practical need for environmental predictability, survival, and authentic connection.

Explains the underlying psychological and practical motives of Cartesian doubt but is secondary to the main ontological argument.

Temporality and the Present-at-Hand

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The discussion moves to our experience in time and how it shapes our concern with the world. Heidegger points out that we care deeply about the repeatability, verification, and memory of things present before us. This constant temporal orientation influences how we relate to entities, showing that our understanding of reality is deeply bound to temporality rather than static, timeless logic.

We understand our relationship to entities through a temporal horizon of past, present, and future.
We seek repeatability and verification to maintain a stable, predictable relationship with what is present before us.

Introduces the vital Heideggerian concepts of temporality and present-at-handedness (Vorhandenheit).

The Active Spectator: Heidegger's Wax Critique

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The narrator contrasts Descartes' famous wax experiment with Heidegger's phenomenological view. When Descartes examines the melting wax, he acts not as a passive, detached mind observing secondary qualities, but as an active agent physically interacting with an object 'present-at-hand.' This active engagement proves that we cannot separate our minds from our active, bodily presence in the physical world.

Descartes' own philosophical experiments rely on physical manipulation, proving he is an active agent, not a passive spectator.
Analyzing objects as 'present-at-hand' is a secondary stance derived from our primary, active engagement with the world.

Offers a concrete, famous philosophical example (the Cartesian wax) to clearly illustrate the difference between the two thinkers.

The Psychological Traps of Radical Skepticism

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The speaker shares personal insight into reading skeptics and postmodernists, warning that excessive analytical doubt can isolate an individual from their natural state of being-in-the-world. By constantly questioning the essence of truth, the world is transformed into a detached, unknowable question mark. This mental separation breaks the primordial unity of our existence and induces paralyzing hesitation.

Hyper-skepticism disrupts the natural 'oneness' of our everyday engagement with the world.
Constantly treating reality as an abstract question mark leads to cognitive isolation and action paralysis.

Connects academic phenomenology to lived experience and mental well-being, providing the basis for the action items.

Anxiety as an Existential Foundation

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Heidegger identifies existential anxiety (Angst) as an unavoidable, foundational mood of human existence, mirroring Descartes' constant threat of being deceived by an evil demon or living in a dream. This anxiety stems from facing the 'possibility of impossibility'—the ultimate groundlessness of our existence. Because of this deep-seated dread and the search for stable selfhood, the narrator frames Descartes as a 'proto-existentialist' trying to cure his anxiety with rational certainty.

Existential anxiety is a fundamental mood that reveals our groundlessness and the potential meaninglessness of the world.
Descartes' radical doubt can be seen as an existential struggle to cope with the threat of ultimate error or illusion.

Synthesizes Cartesian doubt with existentialism and Heidegger's concept of anxiety.

Overcoming Dualism: Descartes' Error

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The video addresses the resolution of this philosophical tension, asserting that Heidegger does not simply dismiss Descartes, but seeks to heal the destructive mind-body split. The narrator cites neuroscientist Antonio Damasio's concept of 'Descartes' Error,' which critiques the artificial separation of physical body-stuff from non-physical mind-stuff. Resolving this duality is shown to be crucial for modern science, psychiatric treatment, and computer science.

Heidegger's critique is not a simple rejection, but a nuanced attempt to overcome the rigid division of mind and body.
Antonio Damasio's modern neuroscience aligns with Heidegger, pointing out the physiological and mental errors of Cartesian dualism.

Explains the modern scientific and clinical implications of moving beyond Cartesian dualism.

Conclusion: Key Concepts Added to the Philosophy of Mind

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The video wraps up by summarizing what Heidegger's ontology contributes to Descartes' rationalist philosophy of mind. Rather than relying solely on abstract intellectual certainties, Heidegger adds vital existential structures: being-in-the-world, care, temporality, authenticity, present-at-handedness, and anxiety. The narrator acknowledges that while Being and Time is a massive, complex work, these concepts offer a robust path forward.

Heidegger enriches the philosophy of mind by anchoring consciousness in temporal, emotional, and physical reality.
Core concepts like care, authenticity, and being-in-the-world help bridge the gap between abstract theory and lived existence.

Re-synthesizes the entire comparative analysis into a highly concise final takeaway.

Key points

The Ontological Priority of Being (Sum) over Thinking (Cogito) — Heidegger argues that Descartes neglected the 'sum' (being) in 'cogito ergo sum'. Before we can think, doubt, or analyze as disembodied minds, we must first exist as unified 'beings-in-the-world,' meaning our fundamental relationship with reality is one of immediate, active immersion rather than detached cognitive observation.
Care (Sorge) as the Foundation of Thought — Before Descartes could doubt or seek certainty, he had to care about science, truth, and his own existence. Heidegger defines care as our most fundamental existential mode—an active intentionality, focus, and concern with the world that precedes and enables any formal cognitive activity like doubt.
Present-at-Hand (Vorhandenheit) and Active Engagement — When Descartes analyzes a piece of wax, he is not a passive spectator; he is actively manipulating and questioning an entity that is 'present-at-hand'. Heidegger highlights that our knowledge of objects is grounded in our physical and temporal interactions with them, rather than purely intellectual contemplation.
Cartesian Doubt as Proto-Existential Anxiety — Heidegger views Descartes' radical skepticism—being threatened by the 'possibility of impossibility' (the evil demon or being asleep)—as a manifestation of fundamental existential anxiety (Angst). Radical doubt represents a state where the unified connection of being-in-the-world is ruptured, leaving the individual isolated and the world fundamentally question-marked.

“what we have here in descartes is the beginning of a philosophy of mind” — Then & Now

“for heidegger descartes has it the wrong way round though he thinks that descartes has neglected the sun the being what is it he asks to be something” — Then & Now

AI-generated from the transcript. May contain errors.

0:00

what did descartes know for certain

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that he's a thinking thing a cogito

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but what does it mean to think

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descartes does list a few modes

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of thinking he says doubting

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affirming denying understanding

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awareness of ignorance willingness

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imagination and sensory perception

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but this he says is all he knows

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for sure it's the foundation that

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all other philosophy and science should

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be built

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upon what we have here in descartes

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is the beginning of a philosophy of

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mind philosophers of mind asked

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questions

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like how can we schematize the mind draw

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it out

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how do we analyze its parts and think

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clearly about how they relate to one

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another

1:00

the 20th century german philosopher

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martin heidegger

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embarks upon a similar project to

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descartes

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what he asks is the fundamental nature

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of our experience of our existence

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heidegger has many agreements with

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descartes

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if we want to live life well he says

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we need to be clear about its most

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fundamental

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component he is though more

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interested than descartes about how we

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live

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in the world how we relate to the things

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around us the descartes approach to

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philosophy can be summarized by his

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famous phrase cogito ergo sum

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which translates as thinking therefore

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being for heidegger descartes has it the

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wrong

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way round though he thinks that

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descartes has neglected

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the sun the being what is it

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he asks to be something

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now i don't want to delve too deeply

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into the complicated foundations of

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heidegger's thoughts

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but simply he says first

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we are beings in the world

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to explain this heidige begins in a

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similar way to descartes

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in a short commentary on descartes

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heidegger asks the reader

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what does descartes care about

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like he cares about knowledge

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science mathematics skepticism

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atheism catholicism and other

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worldly things he has motivations

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he seeks he's looking for truth

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and he has care for these things he

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cares about them

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before he is certain that he's a

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thinking thing before he's certain that

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he's thinking about them that

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is so this care about these things is

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more foundational to thought to his mind

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heidegger writes down science facticity

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is such that its being in the world has

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always dispersed itself or even split

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itself

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up into definite ways of being

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in the multiplicity of these is

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indicated by the following examples

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having to

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do with something producing something

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attending to something and looking after

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it

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making use of something giving something

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up

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and letting it go undertaking

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accomplishing

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convincing interrogating considering

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discussing

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determining care then at its most

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foundational

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is like focus it's like intentionality

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we all focus on certain things in the

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world

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and so it's a fundamental existential

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mode

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of being but we can go further

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why do we care like let's think about

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descartes most frequent mode of thinking

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dating it's meant to be purely res

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cogitans that is not physical

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something we only think but

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what are we doing when we are doubting

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when we're caring about doubting

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we're taking an object of thought

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a belief a sensory perception a feeling

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and we're questioning it we're

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performing

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some kind of action on a distinct object

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of thought is it true that the cat is

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sat on the mat

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for example but what are we questioning

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about it what does it mean to question

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something

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why question in the first place there

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are a number of routes we could take it

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we might think about needing reliable

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information about the world

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predictability to being able to interact

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efficiently

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with the world with our knowledge about

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it we

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might think we do it to follow our

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drives and to

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satiate our hungers and thirsts or

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our need for shelter in short

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we care about the validity of our

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propositions

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the truthfulness of them in the moment

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dependent on our goals in time

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we care about their authenticity

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heidegger also points towards our

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experience

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in time we care about the validity

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of having an entity present before us

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and understanding our relationship to it

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here the cat is sat on the mat for

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example

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but we also care about the repeatability

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the memorialization the verifiability of

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the idea that the cat

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was sat on the mat so we can

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add all of these phenomena that

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heidegger looks into

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and there are many many more to the list

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of things that we know

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for certain to summarize though we are

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beings in the world not beings

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and the world heidegger says for example

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that when descartes is analyzing his

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famous

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wax he's not a passive spectator

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he's interacting with it moving it

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around

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tapping it placing it into the fire

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he's questioning something that is

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present

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at hand which leads us to another

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of heidegger's observations one that

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begins to draw out the

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existentialism in his thoughts now

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descartes is doing a lot of doubting a

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lot of

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questioning a lot of denying and

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searching

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and i have some experience in this area

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because

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if you spend a lot of time reading

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people like descartes

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or the ancient skeptics or the

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postmoderns

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the thinkers who spend a lot of time

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trying to understand the foundational

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essence of something like

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truthfulness you spontaneously

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begin to do a lot of doubting yourself

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now this is great of course

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criticizing analyzing questioning

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interpreting

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noticing things but it can also

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be unhelpful you don't want to have to

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constantly be asking what is that

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or why is that or what if that

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you can become too hesitant to unsure

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too doubtful of everything in yourself

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if heidegger says we are meant to be

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beings in the world

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and the hyphens here are meant to

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signify the oneness

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of our experience with the world then

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there are times when we

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can as descartes does become

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separated from the world the world

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becomes

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a question mark distinct from us

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and ultimately unknowable it can lead to

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heidegger's interpretation

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of anxiety heidegger sees that

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if as descartes says doubt is a

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fundamental foundation of our being

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then anxiety is too we contain

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an unavoidable existential angst within

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us

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this is what leads to heidegger's

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existentialism

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and what i think heidegger would argue

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makes descartes a proto

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existentialist he says that descartes

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is threatened by the possibility of

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impossibility that all and everything is

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false

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that he's mistaken that there is a demon

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that he's asleep or mad a constant

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searching for oneself but we do live

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with the possibility of arriving at

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satisfactory conclusions

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too however temporary they might be

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what heidegger calls an end situation

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we are entities with a capacity for

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self-perfection

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descartes thought he'd found the certain

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knowledge that cured his

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existential doubt so in conclusion here

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i want to add that

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heidegger is not necessarily

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anti-cartesian

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his relationship with descartes is much

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more nuanced than that

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but i think he does provide the best

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attempt to overcome the idea of a

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mind-body duality

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that we've largely inherited from

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descartes

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antonio dimazio who we looked at last

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time

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writes that this is descartes error

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the abysmal separation between body and

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mind

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between the sizeable dimensioned

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mechanically operated

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infinitely divisible body stuff on the

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one hand

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and the unsizable undimensioned

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unpushed pullable non-divisible mind

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stuff

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on the other and why is it important to

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get this stuff right

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because it guides our thinking in many

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many other areas whether it's ideas like

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the mind being similar to a computer

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application

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or how advances in mental health and

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psychiatry occur

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so what can we add to descartes

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philosophy of mind his

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list of certainties that we talked about

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at the beginning

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this has been a brief overview of a

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heideggerian critique

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and one that's nowhere near exhaustive

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beam and time is a very very long and

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complicated work

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but today cart's rationalism we might

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add a few concepts like

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being in the world care time

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authenticity present at handedness

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and anxiety

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