Heidegger's Hammer (Being & Time)

In this episode, we discuss the famous example from Martin Heidegger’s Being & Time: the difference between the “ready-to-hand” and the “present-at-hand.”
This video isn’t sponsored. If you want to support the channel, here are the best ways:
.
1) Watch the full video
2) Subscribe to the channel
3) Share this video with a friend
4) Leave a comment, noting what you liked or learned
5) Like the video
6) Make a small contribution on Patreon: / frank_scalambrino_phd
.
Affiliate link to my books: If you use this link, I receive a small commission from your purchase. This helps to support the channel. Thank you:
amzn.to/3Vid1Z2
.
// BOOKS //
Existentialism Book:
amzn.to/4afZntH
Metaphysics Book:
amzn.to/3wYwiEV
Nietzsche Book:
amzn.to/3IFNv8E
Simulation Theory:
amzn.to/3ICl1fU
Philosophical Psychology:
amzn.to/3TmKAqt
.
// LINKS //
Stickers:
bit.ly/3hiolD2
Podcast:
bpq.podbean.com/
Website:
sites.google.com/site/scalamb...
Academic Papers:
duq.academia.edu/FrankScalamb...
.
// SOCIAL //
X: / philosophemes1
Instagram: / philosophemes
LinkedIn: / frank-scalambrino-phd
.
#philosophemes, #existentialism, #FrankScalambrino, #AmericanAcademy, #Heidegger, #psychology, #phenomenology, #philosophy
🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️ 🏛️
Some links may be “affiliate links,” which means I may I receive a small commission from your purchase through these links. This helps to support the channel. Thank you.
Editorial, educational, and fair use of images.
© 2024, Frank Scalambrino, Ph.D.

[@alexkuhn5078]

Present-at-hand: "Stop" Ready-to-hand: "Hammer time"

[@philosophemes]

Love it! (Or, maybe we could say, "Stop! Un-ready-to-hand hammer time") Nah, I like yours better ;) Cheers!

[@jpturnage]

Thank you for this summary. 43 years ago I read Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy." My young, soft brain thought, "Wow, most of this is gibberish and word games." Some things don't change.

[@philosophemes]

Thank you for the comment. That's Adorno's critique of Heidegger as well: It's all "jargon" and gibberish. Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy" is responsible for a lot of the unreasonable critiques floating around regarding "continental philosophy." Imo Heidegger's phenomenology more accurately develops Kant's Transcendental Method than the development that can be found in Husserl's phenomenology.

[@mikecaetano]

"Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it. But we are delivered over to it in the worst possibly way when we regard it as something neutral; for this conception of it makes us utterly blind to the essence of technology." --Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, 1954

[@rusalkin]

"From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh..."

[@philosophemes]

Great quote!

[@philosophemes]

Happy Full Moon! & Happy Lunar Eclipse!

[@kadaganchivinod8003]

What are the top three greatest philosophical teaxts written in the 20th century sir?

[@philosophemes]

Thank you for your question. The standard answer is (not necessarily in this order), Heidegger's Being & Time, Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, and Deleuze's Difference & Repetition.

[@kadaganchivinod8003]

@@philosophemes I heard a similar kind of example in Deleuze also like Hammer, "while driving a car you aren't aware of the car". Are there any similarities between these two philosophers sir?

[@philosophemes]

@@kadaganchivinod8003 Good question. I wonder if you have the Deleuze swimming example in mind. Almost all of the Heidegger and Deleuze scholars I know definitely study them together. It can get complicated pretty quickly. However, I would say that what Deleuze calls Difference is Being in Heidegger. The folks studying this connection tend to look at the later Heidegger texts, not Being & Time. Do you have a particular interest in Heidegger or are you pursuing a particular philosophical question? In general, I would say, Analytic philosophy simply doesn't understand - or, rather, just isn't interested in - Being. Analytic philosophy seems to be concerned solely with language. As they continue to accept (Brandom's correct assertion) that Analytic philosophy is a development of Hegel's philosophy, we'll see if they develop their tradition of philosophy into something other than philosophy of language. In other words, I think Analytic philosophy is not where true seekers of philosophy should look.

[@kadaganchivinod8003]

@@philosophemes I'm going through Todd May lectures on Deleuze sir, he used that example. While I was watching your video on Heidegger somehow I got connected.

[@user-ky5dy5hl4d]

What about if one breaks the nail with the hammer?

[@philosophemes]

Interesting question. If we intended to break the nail, then it may be the case that we maintain a ready-to-hand engagement with the hammer, but if we weren't intending to break the nail, then it would push us into an un-ready-to-hand relation with the hammer.

[@user-ky5dy5hl4d]

@@philosophemes I think it would rather be ready-to-hand engagement with the nail.

[@philosophemes]

@@user-ky5dy5hl4d How so? We're talking about the nail "breaking" right?

[@user-ky5dy5hl4d]

@@philosophemes Correct. Now, there will be lots of crying because the nail broke.

[@philosophemes]

@@user-ky5dy5hl4d That's funny. I like your question Eric, but I think we'll just have to disagree on the answer :) It's like the idea of "flow." Un-ready-to-hand is flow-disruption. So, in that context we can see how we should inquire about the breaking of the nail. Does its breaking lead to flow-disruption or not? If we think of the ready-to-hand as an environmental (umwelt) engagement, then environmental occurrences that require us to shift into a present-at-hand relation to the environment are occurrences that provoke an un-ready-to-hand engagement. Hopefully there's more nails, so there's no need to cry :) Just opportunities to get better.