Abstract:
Heidegger’s concept of world disclosure offers an enlightening account of how we can experience the world as a meaningful and coherent whole that correlates to our embodied ways of being. Yet, while trying to overcome some of the misleading assumptions of the philosophical tradition – such as Cartesian subjectivism and representationalism – world disclosure embraces equally unsatisfactory philosophical commitments. In particular, Heidegger considers world disclosure to be a primordial form of truth, to which he opposes propositional truth. But, is this a coherent conception of truth? Apparent problems with the reduction of meaning and intelligibility to the disclosure of the truth of being have been extensively discussed in contemporary debates. However, Heidegger’s supporters and critics disagree about what exactly Heidegger’s position is, attributing to him a myriad of positions, such as linguistic idealism and cultural relativism.
In this research project, I aim to offer a more balanced interpretation of world disclosure by reassessing it in relation to some of Heidegger’s key concerns. These include the question of what grounds our capacity to experience things in the world, to understand what things mean, to communicate with others about a shared world, and to make knowledge claims about the world. Using this approach, I examine criticisms of Heidegger’s treatment of our traditional conception of truth (e.g., propositional truth) as secondary to the ‘truth’ of disclosedness. I argue that the vital part of these criticisms, which is often overlooked in the debate, is the question of how humans can have a self-reflexive and critical awareness of the pre-disclosed significances of the world such that they can potentially transform them. I will defend Heidegger against the criticism that he collapses propositional truth into the truth of disclosure and disregards epistemological concerns. I show how my reassessment of world disclosure can address both the normative and existential concerns of reflexivity, critique, and potential transformation of what is always already disclosed to us.