Towards a disciplined seeing : a study in the work of Heidegger and Rilke

Topic: Towards a disciplined seeing: A study in the work of Heidegger and Rilke. This paper has two main aims. The first is to examine a fundamental difference in the way of being of humans and that of the natural world. The second is to chart the dangers, responsibilities and possibilities of the human realm conferred by that difference. In order to accomplish these two aims I draw on the philosophical thought of Martin Heidegger and the poetry, prose and correspondence of Rainer Maria Rilke. A desire to approach non-human forms in an intense and sustained manner fires the first intention. The latter, finding its genesis in the knowledge imparted through such encounters, and firmly convinced of both their rarity and importance in the scope of the human domain, is concerned with the difficulties facing the pursuit of such experiences and, once attained, how such encounters can contribute to the protection of these non-human forms. The first part (chapters 2 to 4) is occupied with developing a largely theoretical account of the non-human world and an outline and 'diagnosis' of the problems of the human realm. The last part (chapters 5 and 6) is 'moral' and practical in temper, and moves toward a 'cure' to the difficulties outlined in the first part.