Abstract

This is a philosophical investigation which attempts to describe the "a priori structure" of communal existence. It seeks to address the question: What are the most fundamental ways in which we, as human beings, are able to become available to one another? Thus, the principal aim is that of pointing out those constituents without which communal existence could not be "what" it is. This entails exhibiting the ontological foundation of all communal relations, no matter how these may become manifest in specific, concrete situations. ;To accomplish this task, considerable use is made of certain insights found in Martin Heidegger's Sein und Zeit. The latter's "existential analysis" is not primarily concerned about communal existence per se. Thus, all direct discussions of this phenomenon are either relatively brief, or they remain subordinate to Heidegger's preoccupation with finding access to being itself . Because of this, it is necessary to interpret these and other features of Sein und Zeit from an appreciably different perspective, one that strives to develop the kind of context capable of more clearly illuminating communal existence itself. Detailed exposition is not lacking; nonetheless, it should be kept in mind that the particular orientation of this inquiry guides all interpretations. ;Such an approach enables the author to discern certain relationships and develop a number of possibilities that Heidegger did not. Yet, even though the foremost concern is not that of interpreting Heidegger but rather clarifying a specific phenomenon, this investigation does demonstrate that his "fundamental ontology" can be the basis of an understanding of communal existence in general and "authentic community" in particular. ;The overall development places a great deal of emphasis on Heidegger's rejection of "substance ontologies." "Dasein" is essentially a possibility, an "ability-to-be." As such, it is "exposed" to a certain "vulnerability," and its response to this constitutes a "being-towards-community," or primordial "we are." Discerning and clarifying the latter--and critically evaluating the relation between "authenticity" and "inauthenticity"--prepares the way for a detailed analysis of authentic community which is discussed in terms of "mutual ownership," genuine responsibility, justice and the "therapeutic" character of authentic friendship