Introduction
In our last lesson, we focused on how Dasein engages with the world, drawing the crucial distinction between the practical, absorbed use of the ready-to-hand and the theoretical gaze at the present-at-hand. We established that our primary mode of being is one of practical engagement within a pre-existing web of equipmental meaning.
This raises a fundamental question: how do we arrive in this world to begin with? We don't choose our native language, the historical era we're born into, or the cultural norms that shape our initial understanding of things. We are, in a sense, dropped into a game that is already underway. Today's lesson addresses this non-chosen character of our existence.
Your learning outcome is to explain 'thrownness' and 'facticity' as core aspects of Dasein's existence. These concepts are Heidegger's way of capturing the fundamental "givenness" of our being. Understanding them is not only essential for grasping Heidegger's thought but also provides the groundwork for Merleau-Ponty's later analysis of the body's situatedness in the world.
1. Facticity: The Unchosen "Givens" of Your Being
Let's begin with the concept of facticity (Faktizität). In simple terms, facticity refers to the collection of concrete, contingent, and unchosen facts that make up your specific situation. These are the "givens" of your life.
To get a clear sense of what this includes, please watch the following segment from a lecture by Eric Dodson.
Martin Heidegger, Lecture 2: Care... and the Riddle of Authentic Existence
This clip provides a clear and accessible explanation of facticity, using concrete examples to illustrate the concept of life's 'givens' or limitations.
Watch from 05:13 to 08:35. Pay attention to the examples given for facticity, such as the body you have, the historical time you are born into, and the culture that shapes you.
As the video explains, your facticity includes:
- Your body: its particular strengths, weaknesses, gender, and genetic predispositions.
- Your historicality: being born in the 21st century and not, for instance, Renaissance Florence.
- Your culture: the language, customs, and background understandings you inherit.
These are not abstract conditions; they are the concrete realities that constitute the starting point for everything you are and do.
Facticity vs. Factuality
Given your background in mathematics, it is crucial to distinguish Heidegger's concept of facticity from what might be called factuality. A rock has certain "facts" about it (mass, chemical composition, location). Heidegger would call this the factuality of a present-at-hand object.
Dasein's facticity is different. It is not a set of properties belonging to an object. It is an existential characteristic—it is a feature of our very way of being. We don't just have these facts; we are our situation in a way that a rock is not. The "fact" that I am an English speaker is not a property attached to me; it is a fundamental way I exist in and make sense of the world.
This short reading from a collection of Heidegger's writings makes this exact point.
This excerpt from Being and Time directly contrasts the 'facticity' of Dasein with the 'factuality' of a 'brute fact' (factum brutum).
Please read the short paragraph under the heading 'FACTICITY AND THROWNNESS' that begins 'Facticity is not the factuality of the factum brutum...'. Focus on the idea that facticity is a 'characteristic of Dasein's Being' that has been 'taken up into existence'.
This is the key: facticity is not a static set of circumstances. It is the raw material of existence that we are constantly "taking up" and living out. How, then, does Heidegger characterize this state of being delivered over to our facticity?
2. Thrownness (Geworfenheit): Delivered Over to Existence
If facticity names the what of our given situation, thrownness (Geworfenheit) names the how. It describes the character of our finding ourselves in that situation. We are "thrown" into existence without any prior consultation or choice.
The following video provides a concise explanation of thrownness and its direct relationship to facticity.
Being in a Mood - Attunement, Thrownness & Facticity | Heidegger - Being and Time
This clip explains thrownness as the concept that indicates Dasein's facticity. It uses the evocative image of being 'plopped down' into a set of circumstances we did not choose.
Please watch from 04:04 to 05:33. Note the distinction between facticity and objective facts, and then how 'thrownness' is presented as the term for this 'always already finding myself in a world'.
Thrownness means we always start in media res—in the middle of things. We awaken to ourselves already in a family, already in a culture, already speaking a language. There is no view from nowhere, no neutral starting point from which we could choose our facts.
This is not a one-time event, like being thrown and then landing. We are always in a state of thrownness. Every moment of our existence carries with it this character of having been delivered over to a situation we didn't create. As the Dodson video you watched earlier mentions, quoting The Doors, "Into this world we're thrown."
3. The Obscurity of Our Thrownness
To deepen our understanding, we must recognize that thrownness implies more than just being situated. It points to a fundamental obscurity at the heart of our existence. In Being and Time, Heidegger states:
This characteristic of Dasein's Being—this 'that it is'—is veiled in its "whence" and "whither"... we call it the "thrownness" of this entity into its "there".
What does he mean by the "whence" and "whither" being veiled?
- The Veiled "Whence" (from where?): We are thrown, but we cannot get behind our own existence to see from where we were thrown. We can trace causal chains back in time (our parents met, etc.), but we cannot answer the ultimate question of why this existence, this Dasein, is here at all. We did not choose to be, and the ultimate origin of our being is inaccessible to us.
- The Veiled "Whither" (to where?): While we project ourselves into the future, the ultimate destination and purpose of our being thrown is not given to us. We find ourselves in a world, but without an instruction manual explaining what it's all for.
This 'thrownness' is the condition of being delivered over to an existence whose ultimate origin and final purpose are obscure. We are responsible for an existence that we are not the foundation of. This is a core part of the human condition as Heidegger sees it. The academic paper by Katherine Withy, Situation and Limitation, explores this obscurity in great depth, distinguishing mere "situatedness" from this more profound sense of "thrownness." While we won't read it now, it's a good example of how scholars rigorously unpack these dense concepts.
4. Thrownness in the Structure of Dasein
So, where do facticity and thrownness fit into the bigger picture of Dasein's existence? They are fundamental components of what Heidegger calls Care (Sorge), the overall structure of Being-in-the-world. The structure of Care is tripartite:
- Facticity (the past): The "already-in-a-world" aspect we've been discussing.
- Existentiality (the future): Dasein's constant projecting of itself toward possibilities.
- Fallenness (the present): Dasein's tendency to be absorbed and lost in its everyday world.
Facticity is the "past" aspect not in a simple chronological sense, but in the sense that we are always starting from what has already been given.
This flowchart can help you visualize these connections.
The chart shows that thrownness is a basic feature of Being-in, and that it is closely related to Facticity and Mood. This brings us to a crucial final point.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we have unpacked two of Heidegger's most fundamental concepts for describing the non-chosen nature of our existence.
Key Takeaways:
- Facticity refers to the unchosen "givens" of our existence—our body, culture, history. It is an existential feature of our being, not a set of objective properties (factuality).
- Thrownness (Geworfenheit) describes the character of our facticity. We are "thrown" or "delivered over" to our existence, finding ourselves always already in a situation we did not create.
- This thrownness is marked by a fundamental obscurity. The ultimate "whence" (origin) and "whither" (purpose) of our being thrown are veiled from us.
- Facticity constitutes the "already-in" dimension of Care, the fundamental structure of Dasein's being.
Preview of the Next Lesson:
How do we actually experience our thrownness? Is it something we deduce intellectually? Heidegger's answer is no. Our thrownness is disclosed to us primarily through moods (Befindlichkeit, or attunement). Whether we are feeling anxious, bored, joyful, or fearful, our mood is a fundamental way of finding ourselves in the world, revealing that we are and how we are. In our next lesson, we will explore the crucial role of mood in disclosing our Being-in-the-world.