Philosophical Journey: Heidegger

Among the first philosophers I met was Martin Heidegger. I can immediately say that my encounter with his philosophy was very unpleasant. Sure, I learned a lot of life's truths from him. Like how we are alone, how we are thrown into this world, how dependent we are on time and how we are given life only to lose it in the end. I became more aware about these inescapable facts. Unfortunately, these truths were so depressing that it awakened the emo in me.

Heidegger's discussions on death made me realize how limited my time is on this planet. What's worse is that all the things I do here would amount to nothing since I'm going to die in the end with a hundred percent certainty. If that is the case, then what is the point of living? What is there to hope for? It is so tempting to sit in a corner and wallow in depression since death is going to waste us all anyway.

Death is the ultimate mystery and I can't deny that Heidegger came up with many good points about it. First is about how one's death really shows the individuality of a being. He argued that each person's end is really their own experience because they cannot share it with someone in anyway. This pointed out to the fact that we really are alone.

Second is about how people try to make the most out of what they can in life. They pursue happiness whether it may be earning material wealth, gaining knowledge or deepening their faiths in an almighty Being. He said that people engage in these activities only because they want to distract themselves from the anxiety brought about by the fact of death. This was the point that got me thinking about my faith. What if Heidegger is right all along? What if people are simply engaging in religious activities because they want salvation? Doesn't that self-serving drive degrade the value of faith? And that's not all. What if religion was merely another creation of mankind (Dasein) to distract themselves from death. After all most, if not all, religious teachings preach about an eternal afterlife. There is no empirical proof about an afterlife. All we hold on to is our faith.

It's no wonder I got depressed after every PH 101 class. Heidegger created a big dent in my faith and almost made me throw it away. His discussion of individuality and death made me feel very alone. It made me lose all purpose in life and extinguished all hope I had. Life became a curse because all people are forced to face the great unknown of death.

Damn you Heidegger.