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August 1, 2004
How do we carve out a place for dwelling? That is Heidegger's question.
Through an understanding of Being-ethical-in-the-world is the pathway. This points to a worldly, finite, lived morality---to an ethos in its sense of abode and dwelling place----- and away from the abstract and systematic utilitarianism so common in Australia. This pathway suggests that values are modes of being-in-the-world. So dwelling" takes place not so much in a site or "environment" as in a "world". In the essay “Building Dwelling Thinking” Heidegger turns from the cultural gathering he explored in "The Origin of the Work of Art" (that sets up shared meaningful differences and thereby unifies an entire culture) to local gatherings that set up local worlds, as in a family meal.
In “Building Dwelling Thinking” Heidegger had argued that the scientific conception of space, as homogenous and measurable “interval,” is derived from a prior understanding of ‘place’ as abode. Place is given to us through the objects with which we are involved: through such involvement, we inhabit things as dwellings, as they are invested with purpose through our intentions. Thus, according to Heidegger our relations to things in the world are essentially an in-dwelling.
What we have is a philosophy of place as abode.
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