Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 12:54:06 +0100
Subject: Re:  What is concealing?


Cologne 07 November 1998

Mark E. Hill schrieb:
> Michael:
>
> Thank you for your response to my question on the issue of
> "concealing".  Could I conclude the following from what you have
> said?    
>
> Concealment is a form of precluding the dimension of openness (i.e., a
> closing-off).  

Mark, so far we have been talking about how beings reveal or conceal themselves 
_as such_ within the dimension of truth of being, which H. also calls the 
clearing. So it is not the case that the _dimension_ of openness is closed off, 
but rather that the dimension of openness admits both concealing and revealing, 
closure and disclosure, encryption and decryption. 

> And, the gray-area between that which is revealed and that which is
> concealed is a part of the revealing/concealing (i.e.,
> coming-into-view/falling-out-of-view).  

Yes, the gray area belongs to the play of truth between revealing and 
concealing. Beings can shows themselves of themselves simply obscurely, not 
necessarily on the way to concealment or revealment.

The moon can show itself clearly in a clear sky, or obscurely from behind a 
cloud, or it can hide altogether behind thick clouds, as if there were no moon 
in the sky that night. Or a big street lamp can show itself as if it were the 
moon, and thus confuse us.

> What happens to that which falls-out-of-view (i.e., the concealed)? 

It is absent.

> And, can what has fallen-out-of-view come back-into-view as it was?  

Perhaps, but not necessarily. To take a simple ontic example: The moon 
disappears behind a cloud at night, and reappears a few minutes later. That the 
moon reappears _as_ the _same_ moon is only possible on the basis of an 
understanding of the being of sameness. The understanding of sameness does not 
disappear and reappear but remains in view for understanding the whole time. It 
is a wonder that we can recognize the same _as_ the same. (But we say every 
month: “A _new_ moon...”)

This standing con-stancy of presencing is what is behind Plato’s experience of 
the ‘eternal’ ideas. Kant grasps this within the metaphysics of subjectivity as 
transcendental reproduction and recognition, which allows identification of the 
same as the same. What is decisive is the temporality of this play of showing 
and hiding. The open clearing for presencing and absencing, showing and hiding, 
is time-space. Presence for bodily perception is only one kind of presencing. 
Simply talking about things, for example, is a way in which beings presence 
themselves and show themselves from various angles. E.g. I here the closing Dow 
Jones index on the radio. With this announcement, Wall St. comes ontically into 
view within my clearing, although it remains far in terms of bodily presencing 
(perception). 

> What is the motivation behind the coming and falling-away? 

In the first place it is not a matter of motivation, but that beings as such are 
necessarily ensnared in the play of truth. 

> Is this
> where the issue of “care” comes in?  

Only insofar as Dasein is concerned. Dasein's existence is an issue for it, and 
taking care of one's existence necessarily means being exposed to the play of 
truth. 

The clearing of the truth of being is more fundamental than Dasein, as H. came 
to see in the turning. SuZ is still open to many misreadings in terms of 
subjectivity, i.e. in which Dasein is just another name for the subject. The 
move away from the unquestioned self-evidence of the subject’s subjectivity is 
then branded as mysticism and the like. 

In SuZ H. still thought he could build some sort of bridge to the question of 
being. Later on he talks about leaping. Dasein can only be a-leapt in grounding 
the clearing of the truth of being (cf. GA65 Beitraege zur Philosophie). SuZ 
then comes to be regarded as a run-up for the leap, a transitional work,  a 
ramp, but not a bridge.

Regards,
Michael
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-  artefact text and translation _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- made by art  _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
http://www.webcom.com/artefact/ _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ artefact-AT-t-online.de-_-_ 
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Dr Michael Eldred -_-_-_
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-




     --- from list heidegger-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---