Abstract

The question of ethics in Martin Heidegger is reduced to the question of Man’s finite existence - of his being capable of death as death. An in-depth survey of several early Heideggerian texts on death highlights the feasibility of refounding a practical philosophy circumscribed by the presupposition of death as a possibility that comprises all of the possibilities of existence of the Dasein: the There-Being. In fact, Man’s relationship to his own death determines the how of his relationship with other men and the world. His relationship with death is not something that occurs out of necessity, but something that is open to his own free willed decision. In late Heidegger, such resoluteness, Entschlossenheit, is radicalized in its intrinsic ontological value. Man becomes mortal, and his mortality allows him to take his place into the Four-Fold: the Geviert from which his dwelling in the world receives its sense of being. In late Heidegger, such an opening does not necessarily occur except for those who choose to take charge of their own Being able to die. This article also traces the notion of the finiteness of Man in Heideggerian thought with regard to the question of Man’s actions in the world