Heidegger's philosophy retains a complexity that has already been noted in class several times. However, what has not been touched on is the consistency of ideas that, in fact, link the entire Heidegger reading together – despite the constant presence of confusion and appearance of contradiction at first glance.

Heidegger’s philosophy is characterized by interweaving of his concepts and the terminology he uses to define them. At the core of Heidegger’s philosophy is the idea of “Da-sein” – the being with its own Being as an issue. This being inherently exist in the world, and cannot be separated from others because its condition of “being-there-too” with others. Da-sein cannot be thought of as ever isolated from others because the two are intrinsically linked. However, it can be distinguished from them (Sec 26).

Though, Da-sein is absorbed into the world, there is no “universal subject” that is composed of multiple Da-sein. There is, however, the presence of the “they” – or “Das Mam” – which has the potential to cause Da-sein to lose itself. It is possible at any point in which a Da-sein is “being-with-one-another” – such as in public transportation. The Da-sein becomes a part of the “the being of the others” and it can become so that the others become less distinct, and then Da-sein loses its ability to be its own being; it becomes ruled by the they. This process is known as “levelling down”, in which the Da-sein loses what makes it distinguishable – it does everything the same way “they” do(Sec 27).

It is this blind conformity that Heidegger rallies against. He referred to this as “publicness” and it was something he found to be unwanted. “Publicness” was to limit the possibilities of being and to work within in the same structure as “they” do (Sec 27). While apart of the public, the Da-sein “flees from though.” It does not have its Being as a concern, and its thoughts become purely calculative – focus of facts, computations, and practicality – rather than the typical meditative quality – reflective of experience – they are intended to have.

The concept of thoughtlessness versus reflection is a consistent theme of Heidegger. He especially stresses it in his “Discourse on Thinking,” and the Da-sein is defined by meditative thinking. Therefore, not only are the ideas and complex thoughts all linked, but remain within the very same realm. There is a brilliance in the use of repetitious terminology to link all the concepts.

As confusing as Heidegger’s syntax can be, I found an appreciation for this coherence of thought which many great thinkers do not maintain over several works, and it did raise a point of interest about not just the material but existence. Perhaps, all that which composes a being, such as the Da-sein, is not a disconnected collage of random character traits but a network of influences and characteristics that may be distinguished but cannot be removed from one another. Or it may just be we are just jumbled sums of experience up to this point.