equipment

is a term that helps make clear that the world is not a spectacle of colors and shapes, but rather an environment in which, say, a podium we may see is first and foremost a podium and not a sheer perception of flat objects and colors constructed in the mind as a podium. Even for a tribal person unfamiliar with podiums, the podium is not a sheer perception, but rather, is simply an object with 'equipmental strangeness'.

Heidegger now asks us to imagine what would happen if a 'Senegal Negro' suddenly entered the room. This unlucky foreigner might have no concept at all of a lecture hall and its usual equipment. He might be utterly confused by the podium and have no idea of how to use it. Even so, he would not see the podium and the desks as meaningless colors and shapes. Instead, he might think of the podium as an item for voodoo or witchcraft, or as a barrier for hiding from arrows and slingstones. . . . .This is what the world means for the young Heidegger: it is not a spectacle of colors and shapes, but rather an environment in which all things have a special significance for us and are linked with one another in a specific way.

is a totality or a task I am involved in such that the hammer is not a hammer, but something that I use for a purpose. A nail is not a nail, but is something I use for a purpose. . . .To see the hammer as a thing is to stop hammering and look at it..

There is a totality of equipment. The hammer is not a hammer. It is something that I use for a purpose. A nail is not a nail, but is something I use for a purpose. . . .to see the hammer as a thing is to stop hammering and look at it. . . . i've begun to look at it as something separate. . . children are completely involved in their activities. . . I as the actor am nothing but part of that totality' (TTC)

is based on reliability which accounts for the repose of equipment resting within itself. Only in this 'reliability' do we discern what equipment in truth is.

The repose of equipment resting within itself consist in its reliability. Only in this reliability do we discern what equipment in truth is. (Heidegger 'origin of the work' 1935-6 cezeaux : 87)

is concerned with knowing 'how' rather than knowing 'what'.

Heidegger 'knowing how rather than knowing what' (TTC)

is essentially 'something in-order-to'. In our everyday existence, we encounter equipment of numerous sorts for writing, sewing, working, transportation, measurement, etc.

In our everyday existence, we encounter equipment of numerous sorts for writing, sewing, working, transportation, measurement, etc. Heidegger defines equipment as, essentially, 'something in-order-to'. Structurally, this in-order-to describes what Heidegger calls an assignment, that is and process which employs 'X' (a piece of equipment) to achieve something 'Y' (a task). (mundey)

is grounded in the idea of 'reliability' which keeps gathered within itself all things according to their manner and extent.

The equipmental being of equipment, reliability, keeps gathered within itself all things according to their manner and extent. The usefulness of equipment is nevertheless only the essential consequence of reliability. The former vibrates in the latter and would be nothing without it.

is never an end in itself. The end product of the labours of the tailor is not 'a shoe' because the shoe itself is produced for wearing.

Equipment is never an end in itself. The end product of the labours of the tailor is not just a shoe, because the shoe itself is produced for wearing... similarly, the clock is manufactured for telling the time. And, as is clear in these examples, the towards which, although it is a product of the work done, does not have to be a product solely in a material sense. [ref. 15, page 99] (munday)

is not to be seen in material terms. There is no such thing as a piece of equipment. Equipment only becomes truly visible as equipment through its use.

The term assignment' indicates that a piece of equipment is made visible in its ontological genesis, Now, you may say that a piece of equipment is always visible, 'Is not a hammer something that is quite obviously there before us'' The answer is no, for the reason that a rock, or a piece of wood, or even a human fist, can serve just as well as a hammer on occasions. (mundey). Therefore, jumping to the conclusion that a hammer is an object, a mere 'thing,' is precisely the mistake people make when they view equipment purely in material terms. Strictly speaking, we can say that there is no such 'thing' as a piece of equipment. In fact, equipment only becomes truly visible as equipment through its use, i.e. in the act of assigning from 'X' to 'Y'. [ref. 15, page 97] (mundey)

equipment, n.All

equipment