Tools reveal Dasein’s being as care, even in neglectful modes

Evidence

Moreover, I do my hammering in service of some purpose, such as building a bookcase for my philosophy tomes. The hammer in my hand summons up a whole network of purposes and contexts. It reveals Dasein’s involvement with things: its ‘concern’. He cites examples: producing something, using something, looking after something, and letting something go, as well as negative involvements such as neglecting something, or leaving it undone. These are what he calls ‘deficient’ forms, but they are still forms of concern. They show that Dasein’s Being in general is one of ‘care’. The distinction between ‘care’ and ‘concern’ (Besorgen and Sorge) is confusing, but both mean Dasein is in the world up to the elbows, and it is busy. We are not far from Kierkegaard and his point that I don’t just exist, but have an interest or an investment in my existence. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 214

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the care/concern (Sorge/Besorgen) distinction and the revealing power of tools, key for orientation.
• XREF: Bridges Heidegger’s ‘care’ to Kierkegaard’s existential interest — a synthesis that helps orient the reader across the existentialist tradition. — connects to: Dasein is essentially absorbed in practical engagement, not detached contemplation — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 213; Heidegger coined Dasein to avoid the assumptions carried by words like mind and consciousness. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 201

Broader Connections

• Heidegger coined Dasein to avoid the assumptions carried by words like mind and consciousness. #expands (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 201