Virtual Seminar: Martin heidegger’s Being and Time and the Philosophy of Orientation

Organized by Dr. Dr. Timon Boehm and Dr. Reinhard G. Mueller

Weekly meetings are on Wednesdays 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (US Central Time), beginning on October 26, 2022. There will be 8 seminar sessions. Apply by October 20, 2022. For joining the seminar after the deadline, please email reinhard.mueller@hfpo.com.

Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time (1927) is not only a landmark in the history of philosophy, especially in the so-called “Continental” tradition, but it also prepared the philosophy of orientation in significant aspects. These include Heidegger’s phenomenological analysis of what he calls “being-in-the-world,” its everydayness, the concept of orientation as such, and the relevance of moods, language, signs, contexts of meaning for orientation, as well as his concepts of thrownness, anxiety, and concern. At the same time, there are crucial differences between Heidegger’s early work and the philosophy of orientation, which invites a comparative study of their approaches and philosophical perspectives.

In this seminar, organized over the course of 8 weeks in weekly 2h sessions, we will closely read the “first part” (§§ 1-44) of Heidegger’s Being and Time and explore his phenomenology of what he calls “being-in-the-world” by comparing it with Werner Stegmaier’s concept of “orienting oneself in a situation.”

The seminar is discussion-based, so participants are expected to read the respective texts before the meetings. The meeting times will be determined in coordination with everyone before the seminar begins. The seminar is free. Please apply by October 20, 2022, via email to seminars@hfpo.com.