Beyond Subjectivity: Kierkegaard’s Self and Heidegger’s Dasein

In the following paper, I analyse and contrast the thoughts of Kierkegaard and Heidegger concerning the problem of existence. I undertake the analysis by first examining how these two thinkers distinguish themselves from the metaphysical tradition. As finite and temporal entities, Kierkegaard’s self and Heidegger’s Dasein mark a radicalisation over the notion of subjectivity in the metaphysical tradition. This gives philosophy a new way to acknowledge the limits of our finite existence instead of merely engaging in a purely conceptual and theoretical analysis. However, I conclude that Kierkegaard is still partly confined to the metaphysical conception when he fails to distinguish the existentiell aspect of the self from the existential aspect. I contend that Heidegger’s Dasein is a further radicalisation over Kierkegaard’s self in that the former is uniquely characterised by the openness of its way of Being.