AUTHENTICITY IN HEIDEGGER,MARTIN - A RESPONSE TO DREYFUS,HUBERT

In his book, Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger’s Being and Time, Division I, Hubert Dreyfus argues that Heidegger’s concept of authenticity is incomprehensible. He maintains that there are two conflicting accounts of inauthenticity in Being and Time. He elucidates what he calls the ‘structural account’ of inauthenticity and being-in-the-world in the main body of his work, and then criticizes what he calls the ‘motivational account’ in an Appendix. Because he overlooks certain textual evidence and underemphasizes fleeing and the role of choice, his interpretation is neither complete nor compelling. I offer an alternative interpretation of authenticity. While Heidegger’s notion of authenticity may still be weakened by other flaws, it is not incomprehensible in the sense that Dreyfus contends. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.