Why did Heidegger divide Being and Time into multiple “Divisions”? What’s the difference between Division One and Division Two?
The full answer to these question is incredibly complex and requires going beyond Being and Time, but it is helpful to reflect here on some important aspects of the answer at the beginning of our journey into Division Two.
According to Heidegger himself, the shift is from one subject to another, and from one type of analysis to another. It is a shift from the “preparatory” analysis of Division One, to a “more ontological” analysis in Division Two. Translated into plain English, Heidegger thinks that he is now ready to “get deep” after preparing us in Division One.
This “depth” brings us to the most exciting and puzzling areas of Heidegger’s thought — beyond the familiar world of “average everydayness” into an investigation of fundamental ontology and the nature of Being itself.
The shift from Division One to Division Two is also an expected shift from an analy…
