Temporality

Definition

Temporality (Zeitlichkeit) is, for heidegger-martin, the ontological meaning of care—the Being of dasein. "Temporality as the ontological meaning of care" (Being and Time, §65, H. 323). Temporality is not linear, clock time but the ecstatic unity of three dimensions: future (ahead-of-itself, projection), past (already-being-in, thrownness), and present (being-alongside, fallenness). "Temporality temporalizes itself as a future which makes present in the process of having been" (§65, H. 326). Ordinary time (within-time-ness) derives from Dasein's temporality; it is not the ground but the derivative.

Key Thinkers

• heidegger-martin — developed the concept in Being and Time (1927) as the culmination of the existential analytic; temporality is the horizon for the question of Being.
• arendt-hannah — engages with temporality through natality; the capacity to begin interrupts linear time.
• bergson-henri — duration (durée) as lived time vs. spatialized time; precursor to Heidegger's temporality.

Related Concepts

• care — temporality is the ontological meaning of care.
• dasein — the entity that is temporal.
• being-toward-death — the future-oriented ecstasis of temporality.
• fallenness — the present-oriented ecstasis of temporality.
• being-in-the-world — the structure within which temporality operates.

Source Support

Sources in the wiki that discuss temporality:

• heidegger-1927-being-and-time — the foundational analysis (§65-83); temporality as the meaning of care, ecstatic unity, within-time-ness.
• arendt-1958-the-human-condition — natality as interrupting linear time; action's unpredictability.

Open Questions

• How does temporality relate to dwelling? Is dwelling a temporal phenomenon?
• Can temporality be operationalized for architectural critique, or does it remain a philosophical abstraction?
• What is the relationship between temporality and spectacle? Does spectacular culture distort temporality? care being existential-ontology Zeitlichkeit