From: "Anthony Crifasi" <crifasi-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Anxiety is about nothing...whatsoever, was distortions
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:48:47 +0000


John Foster wrote:

> > "THAT IN THE FACE OF WHICH ONE HAS ANXIETY IS NOT AN 
>ENTITY-IN-THE-WORLD.
> > That is the face of which one has anxiety is not an entity 
>within-the-world.
> > Thus it is essentially incapable of having an involvement. This 
>threatening
> > does NOT HAVE THE CHARACTER OF A DEFINITE DETRIMENTALITY which reaches 
>what
> > is threatened, and which reaches it with definite regard to a special
> > factical potentiality-for-Being. THAT IN THE FACE OF WHICH ONE IS 
>ANXIOUS IS
> > COMPLETELY INDEFINITE. Not only does this indefiniteness leave 
>factically
> > undecided which entity within-the-world is threatening us, but it also 
>tells
> > us that entities within-the-world are not relevant at all. NOTHING WHICH 
>IS
> > READY-TO-HAND OR PRESENT-AT-HAND WITHIN THE WORLD FUNCTIONS AS THAT IN 
>THE
> > FACE OF WHICH ANXIETY IS ANXIOUS." (SuZ 186)
>
>>But that is not what you said. You said that anxiety was about 'nothing in 
>>the world'. As we agreed to before, anxiety is a state of mind. It is a 
>>function, anxiety is a dread for the 'ability to be in the world'. 
>>Heidegger is indicating something else, he is writing about that how 
>>anxiety functions by stating dread (Angst) 'takes away from Da-sein the 
>>possibility of understanding itself, falling prey, in terms of the 'world' 
>>and the public way of being interpreted. IT THROWS DA-SEIN BACK UPON THAT 
>>FOR WHICH IT IS ANXIOUS, ITS AUTHENTIC 
>>POTENTIALITY-FOR-BEING-IN-THE-WORLD. ANGST INDIVIDUATES DA-SEIN TO ITS 
>>OWNMOST BEING-IN-THE-WORLD WHICH, AS UNDERSTANDING, PROJECTS ITSELF 
>>ESSENTIALLY UPON POSSIBILITIES." [SZ, 187-88]
>
>>What you have correctly pointed out is only one insignficant fact about 
>>anxiety, that it is 'not about', but if you read Heidegger carefully 
>>anxiety is about possibilty and understanding. There can be no 
>>ontological-existential possibilities (or authentic potentiality...) 
>>without dread (which is not concerned about the objective and ready or 
>>present to hand). You have confused the indefinite with the nothing. The 
>>nothing is not the same as the indefinite, otherwise dread would not 
>>exist.

John read what it says again - anxiety is about PURE possibility for being, 
not about any particular possibility at all!

"This threatening does not have the character of a definite detrimentality 
which reaches what is threatened, AND WHICH REACHES IT WITH DEFINITE REGARD 
TO A SPECIAL FACTICAL POTENTIALITY-FOR-BEING. That in the face of which one 
is anxious is completely indefinite."

So anxiety is not about anything present-at-hand, or anything ready-to-hand, 
nor even about any specific factical POSSIBILITY, but only about pure 
possibility for being! That is completely indefinite - it is about nothing 
in the world whatsoever.

Anthony Crifasi


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