Conversation with Husserl and Fink, 20/11/31

pp. 42-44

in: Dorion Cairns, Conversations with Husserl and Fink, The Hague, Nijhoff, 1976

Abstract

While Husserl was putting on his shoes I spoke to Fink of what Kaufmann had said last night about the phenomenological reduction and the nature of Wesen 〈essence〉. Kaufmann had said that "der Mensch nicht nur ein Wesen habe sondern auch ein Wesen sei"³⁸. I had objected that this was absurd if we used the word Wesen to mean what Husserl means therewith. Fink agreed that Kaufmann was using the word Wesen in another sense, namely the Heideggerian sense. Kaufmann had maintained that there was a good Husserlian sense in which "der Mensch ein Wesen ist"³⁹. He had said that in so far as man knows his essence he not only has but is his essence. Fink suggested that Heidegger speaks of man as being an essence in that man contains within himself the possibilities of an eigentliches 〈authentic〉 and an uneigentliches 〈unauthentic〉 being.