Heidegger and the Ontological Status of Nothing

Abstract

This paper examines Heidegger’s thoughts on vulnerability by focusing on his conception of Dasein as fundamentally guilty and constituted by a lack. The argument put forth is that this guilt and lack condition the possibility of Dasein as a being who interprets both itself and Being. Such interpretations showcase Dasein as a being of primordial impotency and highlight the necessity of nothing, and nothing’s positive “ontological status,” as constitutive of such impotency, guilt, and lack.