Research Article

Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology

Number: 54 December 20, 2025
TR EN

Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology

Abstract

This article treats of the distinction between “Dasein” and “human” in early Heidegger’s ontology. To reduce similar concepts to the “same” means relegating the “difference”, which lends actual power to these concepts, to a minute element that is naturally overlooked. Meanwhile, small oddities which at first sight appear to be insignificant appear as the initial signals of something going wrong with the whole of the narrative produced. In this article, first the small oddities found in Levinas’s interpretation of Heidegger are revealed to place the whole narrative on thin ice. The fundamental oddity in Levinas’s interpretation of Heidegger, which may initially appear minor and insignificant but, as I will later argue, culminates in a significant interpretative problem, is Levinas’s evaluation of Heidegger’s concept of “Dasein” as equivalent to “human”. After elucidating this problem, it is demonstrated that the error in the interpretation develops around strategic aims and how an interpretation shaped around such aims creates aporias in the whole of Levinas’s narrative. Finally, a new narrative, which shows the main difference between “Dasein” and “human” in early Heidegger’s ontology, is developed.

Keywords

References

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  2. Aktok, Ö. (2017). Platon’un mağarasına dönüş yolunda: Heidegger, Platon ve aletheia. Felsefi Düşün, 8, 47-79.
  3. Aristotle. (1966). Metaphysica (W. D. Ross, Trans.). W. D. Ross (Ed.), in The works of Aristotle, volume VIII. London: Oxford University Press.
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  5. Bloch, E. (2006). Traces (A. A. Nassar, Trans.). California: Standford University Press.
  6. Critchley, S. (2004). Emmanuel Levinas: a disparate inventory. S. Critchley & R. Bernasconi (Ed.), in The Cambridge companion to Levinas (pp. XV-XXX). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  7. Dastur, F. (2008). The reception and nonreception of Heidegger in France. D. Pettigrew & F. Raffoul (Ed.), in French interpretations of Heidegger: An exceptional reception (pp. 265-289). Albany: State University of New York Press.
  8. Gözkan, H. B. (2010). Kant’tan Heidegger’e varlığın anlamı meselesi. Cogito, 64, 113-152.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

History of Philosophy (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

December 20, 2025

Submission Date

April 23, 2025

Acceptance Date

November 25, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Number: 54

APA
Demir, B. (2025). Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 54, 209-224. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1682235
AMA
1.Demir B. Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology. SEFAD. 2025;(54):209-224. doi:10.21497/sefad.1682235
Chicago
Demir, Barışcan. 2025. “Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And ‘Human’ In Heidegger’s Early Ontology”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, nos. 54: 209-24. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1682235.
EndNote
Demir B (December 1, 2025) Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 54 209–224.
IEEE
[1]B. Demir, “Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And ‘Human’ In Heidegger’s Early Ontology”, SEFAD, no. 54, pp. 209–224, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.21497/sefad.1682235.
ISNAD
Demir, Barışcan. “Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And ‘Human’ In Heidegger’s Early Ontology”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi. 54 (December 1, 2025): 209-224. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1682235.
JAMA
1.Demir B. Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology. SEFAD. 2025;:209–224.
MLA
Demir, Barışcan. “Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And ‘Human’ In Heidegger’s Early Ontology”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, no. 54, Dec. 2025, pp. 209-24, doi:10.21497/sefad.1682235.
Vancouver
1.Barışcan Demir. Revealing The Fundamental Aporia In Levinas’s Interpretation Of Heidegger: The Difference Between “Dasein” And “Human” In Heidegger’s Early Ontology. SEFAD. 2025 Dec. 1;(54):209-24. doi:10.21497/sefad.1682235

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