Study questions for Basic Questions of Philosophy
(for sections on September 22-23)
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1) According to Professor Dreyfus' presentation of Heidegger
in Thursday's lecture (9/16), what is Plato's understanding of the essence
of a thing?
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What is 'productive seeing' (cf. pp. 76, 86)? How does this relate
to Heidegger's view of how works of art work?
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How does this interpretation of Heidegger's interpretation of Plato differ
from the one Professor Dreyfus offered on Tuesday (9/14)? Which interpretation
fits better with what Heidegger says? Which fits better with what Plato
says?
2) What does Heidegger think we can learn by reflecting on the fact
that
"the Greek thinkers themselves say that the origin of philosophy...
is wonder" (p. 135)?
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How is wonder the 'basic disposition'?
3) What does Heidegger mean when he says (p. 134):
"It is the disposition that transports, transports us into this or
that basic relation to beings as such"?
4) What does Heidegger mean when he says (BQP, p. 160):
"What if the abandonment of beings by Being, that beings still
'are' and yet Being and its truth remain denied to beings and consequently
to man (the denial itself understood as the essence of Being), what if
this event which proceeds out of beings as a whole were the concealed ground
of the still veiled basic disposition which compels us into another necessity
of another original questioning and beginning?"
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What is this 'abandonment'? Why should this 'denial' be understood as the
essence of Being? What is the 'basic disposition'? What would 'another
original questioning and beginning' amount to?