Conflation of Who and What Questions
Joseph Polanik
>jPolanik writes:
>Joe: on the contrary, the 'what am I' question makes the biography the
>philosopher irrelevant.
>Jud: So if on being wheeled into an operation theatre for a heart
>transplant, you ask the masked, gowned-up figure in green: /*What are
>you?*/ and he replies, * I am your surgeon,* it renders his
>biographical background of study, training, scrupulous attention to
>detail and hands-on experience irrelevant for your heart-swop operation
>does it?
in such circumstances, the patient would be more likely to ask 'who are
you' precisely because the biographical details of the surgeon's
training are important.
however, Descartes is asking 'what am I' in circumstances (his
philosophical inquiry) in which the answer is also an answer to the
question 'what is a human'. that is clearly not the case with your
surgeon example --- which makes that a who am I question in disguise.
>The fact that Heidegger was a raving Nazi who called for the
>elimination of the Jews renders his biographical influence on his
>philosophy irrelevant does it?
Heidegger's Nazi affiliations are irrelevant to the question Descartes
asked 'what am I' or 'what is a human'.
Heidegger conflated the 'who am I' and 'what am I' questions just as you
do. review the section of BaT on the 'who' of daSein. are you able to
separate the parts that apply to any daSein from the parts that relate
to the biographical uniqueness of each daSein.
Joe
--
Nothing Unreal is Self-Aware
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http://what-am-i.net
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