Introduction

In Chapter Two the focus of our discussion concentrated on the constituting influence of the social world as this relates to the conceptualization of the unified phenomenon (Heidegger, 1953/2010) of being-in-the-world. As an inseparable ontological characteristic for a human being, it was, therefore, necessary to first explore the there from which Dasein takes up and discovers its world (Richardson, 2012). Though it would be philosophically and theoretically incoherent from the point of view offered here to argue that world is the sole determining factor relative to the meaning of being, it would be equally as confused to propose that human being or Dasein is its sole author. As a unified phenomenon, both being and the world are inseparably implicated in this process. So how, then, do we proceed to the being of being-in-the-world?

Though we always find ourselves thrown within the specific configurations of a socially constructed there, it is from the vantage of this there that the potentiality of human being is confronted. Given that human being and world are never, for Heidegger, viewed as discrete philosophical categories, the possibilities for human being still remain open and are never completely foreclosed by the circumstances of one's thrown existence. This is not to argue that the challenges posed by the social constructs of racism, sexism, religious prejudice, or various forms of structured economic and political marginalization do not impose a profound influence on one's ability to be; rather, it is to simply recognize that point from which the world is grasped and lived. However, before we proceed with this discussion, it may be helpful to explore the philosophical context from which this formulation of being and world are configured.

To say that being-in-the-world is a unified phenomenon that cannot “… be broken up into components that may be pieced together…” (Heidegger, 1953/2010, p 53) is to recognize that both sides of this unified phenomenon are in play concerning the construction of the meaning of being. As a result, the meaning of this being there becomes that which emerges within the “in-betweens” of this unified phenomenon.