Daseins

Dasein is a term used in phenomenology and existential philosophy to describe the form of being that is characteristic of human beings. Coined and developed by Martin Heidegger in Being and Time (1927), the word comes from the German da (there) and sein (to be). It refers not to a generic object but to a mode of existence in which a being is conscious of and concerned with its own being and with the world it inhabits.

In Heidegger’s analysis, Dasein is always being-in-the-world (in-der-Welt), and its existence is structured by care (Sorge), mood, and projects through which it engages with possibilities. Key features include thrownness (Geworfenheit), the fact that one is situated within a particular historical and cultural context; projection, through which one navigates potential futures; and authenticity (Eigentlichkeit) as a way of owning one’s choices, contrasted with inauthenticity.

Dasein is fundamentally temporal; its being is understood as time-bound and oriented toward its own finitude, in particular through being-toward-death. Heidegger’s methodological aim is to reveal the basic structures of Dasein through phenomenological analysis of everyday experience, rather than to classify beings. The concept has profoundly influenced existentialism, hermeneutics, and later strands of phenomenology and post-structural thought, by reframing questions of freedom, responsibility, and the meaning of Being.

Regarding plural usage, Daseins is uncommon in Heidegger’s text; when used, it generally denotes multiple Daseins or human beings considered collectively.