Abstract

In developing the moral implications of Heidegger’s work, Sherover takes seriously the well-known notion that persons become aware of themselves as already and always existing as beings in the world in relation to other persons and things. In this context, making a voluntary decision always involves one in a complex existential situation in which, Sherover argues, one seeks to live resolutely into the future while, as Royce emphasized, finding oneself as a member of a historically developed society with its conflicting values, loyalties, and desires. Each authentic or free act thus entails implicitly at least choosing some aspects of one’s history or heritage, making it “mine,” so to speak, while setting aside other possible ways of being in the world. Sherover, like Heidegger, insists upon the process of mineness or separation from the other, but seeks to do so while spelling out and accepting the consequences of a richer understanding of heritage and the societal context. Sherover’s engaging chapter on the concept of heritage is among the best discussions on the topic that I have read.