BODY AND SPATIALITY IN HEIDEGGER'S THOUGHT: an ontological-existential analysis of corporeality

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between body and spatiality based on Heidegger's philosophy. We address the accusations of neglect towards the theme of the body in Being and Time, questioning whether Heidegger truly ignores the body or, conversely, offers an analysis of how humans embody their being. We examine whether it makes sense, as some French philosophers argued, to claim that Dasein is an entity devoid of carnality. In the Zollikon Seminars, Heidegger explores the “problem of the body” (Leibproblem) and critiques the Cartesian objectification that reduces the human body to a res extensa. He distinguishes between the material body (Körper) and the lived body (Leib), proposing an ontological-existential understanding of corporeality, considering how it is experienced in existence. We thus ask how Heidegger's conception of the body relates to the spatiality of Dasein in Being and Time.