Benue State University, Makurdi

Man (Dasein), a Being-TowardsDeath: Ruminating on the Heideggerian Ontology of Death with African Lenses

Godwin Adinya Ogabo, PhD and Imoter Mark Shenge

Abstract

This study is a rumination on the Heideggerian thesis of Man as Being-Towards-Death in African (Bekwarra) Lenses. One of the inescapable, universal and mysterious experiences of human nature is death. Death has always been a major concern of humanity since the beginning of history. Among philosophers who have addressed the subject of death, Heidegger addressed not only immortality and life after death but also the nature of death during one’s existence. In his view, man (which he named Dasein) through death becomes aware of his finitude. Heidegger chooses human beings as the only way of understanding existence among creatures. In his view, death is the most original form of the possibility of Existence. Thus, the being of Dasein can never fully be grasped or actualized without his death. Therefore, for him, man is a being-towards-death; as soon as one is born, he/she is old enough to die. This Heideggerian postulation on death has far-reaching implications and import for contemporary society. That is why this study is aimed at sifting lessons from Heidegger’s notion of man as a being-towards-death to inundate contemporary interpretations of death. The methods employed in this study are textual and contextual analyses. Through textual analysis, the study undertakes an analysis of Heidegger’s proposition on death as contained in Being and Time; whereas, through Contextual analysis, the study applies ideas from Heidegger’s notion to some interpretations of death and burial rites in various societies, especially of Africa. This study employs secondary sources for data collection. This comprises Martin Heidegger’s work, Being and Time and other books, journals, newspapers, magazines, dictionaries, encyclopedias and internet sources. This study found out that some African societies have no clear theory of “natural death”. Rather, they believe that most deaths result from the intervention of an outside agent, usually witchcraft. In the final analysis, the study surmises that Heidegger’s notion of death has salient lessons for the contemporary African society. It however cautions that care must be taken to jettison the seeming gloom that his concept of man as being-towards-death portrays to some people.

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE (CLICK)