Being Courage and Love
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ei ng, Cou rage, an d Love by Mason Olds TWENTIETH CENTURY GERMAN PHILOSOPHER Martin Heidegger reminds us in his major work, Being and Time, that the ancient Greeks were interested in the question of being. Later philosophers moved on to differ- ent problems, so Heidegger accepted as his task a return to the ancient question of heing. As he did so, he was forced to address other problems such as non-being and the relation of being to existence. It is not my purpose to explain Hei- degger's thoughts here, but rather to reflect on the question, what does it mean to be? It is in old age that one becomes most acutely aware of the fact that life moves inexorably toward death. Of course we all know intellectually that humans are mortal, but that is a bi t dif ferent than know ing existentiall y that we are m or- tal. Some among us refuse to accept this stark reality by tak- ing flights of fantasy into other realms where disembod- ied spirits dwell. For some absurd reason they think our species is special. And they reason incorrectly that since we were our parents' darlings, we must be the favorites of the universe. How dare the power of eternal death threaten not only the body but the mind and spirit as well? In our more sober considerations we move beyond our arrogance and fleeti ngly accept the fa ct of our total physical and men- tal extinction. Perhaps it is in such moments that anxiet- 32 THE HUMANIST I January - Februory 2007 www.amerlcanhumanlst.org
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