Existentiell
Encyclopedia
In English translations, the word rendered "existentiell" was, with the philosophical meaning discussed in this article, first used by Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...

. Though it is not commonly used in philosophy outside of discussions of Heidegger's seminal work Being and Time
Being and Time
Being and Time is a book by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Although written quickly, and despite the fact that Heidegger never completed the project outlined in the introduction, it remains his most important work and has profoundly influenced 20th-century philosophy, particularly...

, it is important to understand Heidegger's definition of the term if one wishes to study Being and Time. Heidegger distinguishes between his two terms "existential" and "existentiell" in the Introduction to Being and Time. In Being and Time, the word existentiell is used to describe an ontic
Ontic
In philosophy, ontic is physical, real or factual existence."Ontic" describes what is there, as opposed to the nature or properties of that being...

 understanding of beings in the world. An existentiell understanding addresses the facts about things in the context of the world, in terms of their existence, but differs from the ontological understanding that however vague is a necessary precondition for ontic understanding.

English etymology

Technically, Heidegger did not coin the exact term "existentiell". The common German word "existenziell" is usually translated into English as "existential". However, in Heidegger's works, he coined the German word "existenzial", giving it a meaning distinct from the common German word "existenziell". In English translations of Heidegger, then, the German "existenziell" is transliterated
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

 as "existentiell" in English, and the German word "existenzial" is transliterated as "existential", each word having its own technical meaning specific to Heidegger. http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=806&C=1097

Definition


Dasein always understands itself in terms of its existence, in terms of its possibility to be itself or not be itself. Dasein has either chosen these possibilities itself, stumbled upon them, or already grown up in them. Existence is decided only by each Dasein itself in the manner of seizing upon or neglecting such possibilities. We come to terms with the question of existence always only through existence itself. We shall call this kind of understand of itself existentiell understanding. The question of existence is an ontic "affair" of Dasein. For this the theoretical perspicuity of the ontological structure of existence is not necessary. The question of structure aims at the analysis of what constitutes existence. We shall call the coherence of these structures existentiality. Its analysis does not have the character of an existentiell understanding but rather an existential one. The task of an existential analysis of Dasein is prescribed with regard to its possibility and necessity in the ontic constitution of Dasein.


In Being and Time
Being and Time
Being and Time is a book by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Although written quickly, and despite the fact that Heidegger never completed the project outlined in the introduction, it remains his most important work and has profoundly influenced 20th-century philosophy, particularly...

, by Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...

, the word existentiell is used to describe an ontic
Ontic
In philosophy, ontic is physical, real or factual existence."Ontic" describes what is there, as opposed to the nature or properties of that being...

 understanding of beings in the world. An existentiell understanding addresses the facts about things in the context of the world, in terms of their existence, but differs from the ontological understanding that however vague is a necessary precondition for ontic understanding. The latter is reached by going about our daily business, interacting with things in the world, whereas existential understanding is theoretical and ontological in character. Heidegger claims that his examination of Dasein (human being) is an existential analysis. However, this is not to disparage existentiell understanding--Heidegger argues that any authentic
Authenticity (philosophy)
Authenticity is a technical term in existentialist philosophy, and is also used in the philosophy of art and psychology. In philosophy, the conscious self is seen as coming to terms with being in a material world and with encountering external forces, pressures and influences which are very...

 potentialities of Dasein
Dasein
Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to being in its ontological and philosophical sense Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to...

 (the human being in this case) brought out in the existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 analysis must be realized in existentiell understanding; i.e. it is the role of the existential analysis to function as a hermeneutic, to explicitly question Being and to interpret its structure, but Da-sein is not acting authentically until those interpretations are realized in Da-sein's ontic
Ontic
In philosophy, ontic is physical, real or factual existence."Ontic" describes what is there, as opposed to the nature or properties of that being...

life.
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