I have come to Heidegger's thinking for the first time and am discovering his
concept of tradition, revealed in "Being and Time" (Section 6). I would be
interested in any comments/criticisms/expansions on my understanding of what
he said.
Ordinarily, an inauthentic interpretation of 'tradition' is a concept of one's
historical and cultural heritage; founded in prejudices and belief in one's
identity as an individual in society. Whether or not one considers oneself a
'traditionalist', or an 'anti-traditionalist', one is still making a choice
which is based on one's tradition and such classifications of Dasein are
superficial and misrepresentative. By 'breaking with tradition' one is
continuing the traditional, classical process of that tradition, and reinforcingit by attempting to refute it.
Traditions are only meaningful to those that have the ability to question their
Being, ie., Dasein. Societies inherit traditions based upon what has gone
before and what is to become in the future, and traditions are meaningful to
Dasein because of its special relationship with, and understanding of time.
The past provides a context for the interpretation of Being, with the past and
future of the entity as essential to Dasein's understanding of Being. For
Dasein, the past, and the preconceptions of the present and future which arise
>from tradition, are essential to its understanding of itself - Dasein is the
present state of what it already has been and exists in anticipation of what
it will be in the future.
I hope this makes *some* sense and I look forward to any comments you may have.
Glenn Reffin
Middlesex University
Philosophy and Politics
Glenn4@xxxxxxxxx
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---