A Ground for Ethics in Heidegger'sBeing and Time

Heidegger on Aristotelian phronêsis and moral justification

“…As Frederick Olafson has put it, “What is fundamentally unjustifiable and therefore wrong is to deny our distinctively human commonality with one another by treating someone as though he or she were not a partner in Mitsein and had no claim to any consideration in decisions we make about how to act” (Olafson, 1998, p. 69). Drawing on a similar analysis of Mitsein , Donovan Miyasaki suggests that this analysis grounds both negative moral duties (non‐interference, “let[ting] the Other show itself”, “let[ting] the Other speak”) as well as positive moral duties (assisting the Other, creating “space for the Other to occupy”) (Miyasaki, 2007, pp. 273–4).…”

“…The metaethical hesitation is both noteworthy and puzzling. Even Miyasaki, who develops and justifies principles rooted in Mitsein at some length, is careful to contextualize his remarks: “The traditional attempt to ground ethics through demonstration or refutation depends upon a misunderstanding of obligation as an imposition that is distinct from, and inflicted upon, the subject in a way that is in need of justification”; Miyasaki's suggested principles, he claims, “do not justify ethical obligation” (Miyasaki, 2007, p. 261).…”

“…To this one might reply that justificatory moral reasons by any other name are still justificatory moral reasons. Miyasaki for his part considers himself (and Heidegger) to have supplied a “ground” for ethics—a purchase within Dasein for the notion of obligation or “ought” to take hold—but not a “justification” (Miyasaki, 2007, p. 261). This is certainly consistent with Heidegger's own several explicit repudiations of any such thing as an a priori ethic one might formulate before the fact (for instance, BCA 123; PIA 124–125).…”

The Inner (and Unavoidable?) Violence of Reason: Re-reading Heidegger via Education

“…Our existence is founded upon the duty to change our gesture towards the world, and here lies the educational point of Heidegger's thought intertwined with the ethical. Regarding Heidegger's lack of concern for ethics, we can see that this is only one side of his critical vision (Olafson, ; Kompridis, ; Miyasaki, ; Webb, ). The call for authenticity is an ethical one.…”