The significance of death in heidegger’s philosophy
Throughout history the idea of death and its significance has always been a major issue. One that a great number philosophers have pondered over. Many have said that death has no significance or subjective meaning. However there are some who have had distinctive ideas about death and its significance. Plato, a Greek philosopher and the founder of the first institute of higher learning in the western world, believed after death, the soul is taken to a realm in which the guardians of the afterworld would judge the dead for their worthiness to enter the heaven. Nietzsche a german philosopher whose work has greatly influenced modern philosophy, believed that there is no such thing as death. He believed we inevitably relive the same life over and over, in exactly the same way for all eternity. The most distinct view of death however, came from Martin Heidegger.
Martin Heidegger was a german philosopher best known for his contributions to phenomenology and existentialism. His theoretical postulation focused not only on what lies after death, but also immortality and the nature of death during one’s existence. Inexistence or life after death, to heidegger, was not something imaginary it was real.“The end of the world – is death. The ‘end’ that belongs to existence limits and defines the whole of Existence … death is just a fellow Existence.” (Heidegger, Martin. What is Metaphysics? Siavash Jamadi Translation. Phoenix Publishing, 2014, P. 302). He believed death to be just as significant...
