The Human Being And Mortality: The Consciousness Of Finitude
Philosophy, among other interests, has as its object of study and conditioning the finite nature of man. On the other hand, the human being is the only animal that knows that there is an ending called death, reflecting on the fact beyond the event. Thus, it seems that it is precisely this consciousness of mortality that encourages our most transcendental reflection, resulting in reflection on the actions and decisions we make in this life.
Borges, in his story The Immortal , tells the story of an eternal man. At a certain point, that man meets Homer, who is, in turn, immortal as well. After this meeting, he remembers: “I said goodbye to Homer at the gates of Tangier. I don’t think we said goodbye ”. Two immortal people do not feel that need to say “goodbye”: there will be no “end” that will be an obstacle to this possibility.
Humans thrown into the world
As we have mentioned, every moment of our life is unique: our path forward is a path to death. The human being was born as thrown into a world whose historical, social and family situation has been given. Does this mean that we are predetermined?
For Martin Heidegger, the most important existentialist philosopher of the twentieth century, the consciousness of man’s finitude makes the most desirable thing is that each of us have our own and authentic thought. Thought lacking in authenticity is thoughtless and does not project us towards a full life.
The human being and inauthentic thinking
To understand what inauthentic thinking means, we can think of a common situation. Let’s imagine we get into a taxi; the radio is on and the taxi driver begins to tell us about the news they are giving. He explains his opinion about it, an opinion that we could surely infer / anticipate from the radio station that he is listening to.
For Heidegger, repeating the ideas and opinions of others without prior reflection means “being talked about. ” The taxi driver (may be an example, without the intention of offending anyone) does not reflect on what he says, but rather repeats a series of arguments that are not his.
Therefore, the inauthentic life for Heidegger is one that lives in exteriority, which is unreflective and is not aware of its mortality ; When human beings are aware of their mortality, they most likely want to live with their own thoughts and make their own decisions.
The human being and authentic thinking
Man would be a being thrown into the world. It would come out of nowhere and go to nothing, a fact or idea that would reveal its finite condition. However, at the same time it is also a being projected into the future by this same condition.
Our condition as human beings – profoundly present beings walking towards a future – forces us to think, more than in reality, in possibility. We are our possibilities, without forgetting that the possibility of all possibilities is death (whatever we choose, we can always die, that is, mortality is always present).
The human being who chooses an authentic life would do so thanks to the anguish caused by the experience of nothingness, which is the experience of death. Make your decisions knowing that your life is unique and that any moment, in addition to being fleeting, can be the last. He would know that no one can die for him and, above all, he is aware that death is not only a moment for which others transcend.
