ontological difference

is at the heart of human existence as we question the beings of beings, transcending the domain of knowledge, even though we rarely question being, per se.

For Heidegger, to exist means to perform the ontological difference. Animals cannot do this, and hence animals cannot liberate the previously concealed being of any kind of being and make it the object of knowledge.

's recognition allows us to avoid the pitfall of raising one particular being to the status of being itself — the constant shadowy interplay between concealed being and any particular beings that emerge.

Heidegger sees the history of philosophy as riddled with ontotheology from one end to the other. In his view, ontology should never raise one particular being to the status of being itself. The only way to avoid this mistake is to insist on the ontological difference: the constant shadowy interplay between concealed being and any particular beings that emerge. According to Heidegger, this interplay should now become the central topic of philosophy.

is dangerous in that when being is objectified, what always happens is that some specific being is identified with being itself.

In Heidegger’s view, the danger of objectification for philosophy is even simpler, and even more dangerous. When being is objectified, what always happens is that some specific being is identified with being itself.

is the difference between being and beings.

The “ontological difference,” or the difference between being and beings.

is concerned with how beings in the plural already contain being in the singular as their deeper ground.

To a large extent, the ontological difference follows naturally from Heidegger’s reading of categorial intuition. Although the individual things we encounter can be called beings in the plural, all of them already contain being in the singular as their deeper ground. To clear up a possible confusion, it should be noted that Heidegger speaks of being in two different ways. In one sense there is being as the single reality that is asked about in the question of the meaning of being. This question takes no notice of the numerous specific things that exist, and merely asks for the meaning of being, plain and simple. But at the same time, Heidegger also speaks of the being of specific entities. The secret of a great biologist, mathematician, or historian is that they redefine the being of the specific beings they work with, without ever asking the question of being in general.

is the crucial distinction between Being and beings (entities).

's origin is to be found in time. The distinction is so crucial to us that ‘existence’ means, as it were, 'to be in the performance of this distinction.

Time is the origin of the ontological difference between beings and Being - a distinction so crucial to us that, as Heidegger now says, "existence means, as it were, 'to be in the performance of this distinction'" .33 A nagging question may arise at this point. If we understand beings in terms of their Being, and we understand Being in terms of time, then doesn't time 29. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology, p. 305.

ontological difference, n.All

ontological difference