Being and Time raises the problem of "authenticity," that is, the potentiality or otherwise for mortal "Dasein" to exist "fully" enough that it might actually understand being. Heidegger is clear throughout the book that nothing makes certain that "Dasein" is capable of this understanding. Finally, this question of the authenticity of individual "Dasein" cannot be separated from the "historicality" of "Dasein". On the one hand, "Dasein", as mortal, is "stretched along" between birth and death, and thrown into its world, that is, thrown into its "possibilities", possibilities which "Dasein" is charged with the task of assuming. On the other hand, "Dasein's" access to
John Gray (philosopher) John Gray (philosopher) John Nicholas Gray (born 17 April 1948) is an English political philosopher with interests in analytic philosophy and the history of ideas. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray contributes regularly to "The Guardian", "The Times Literary Supplement" and the "New Statesman", where he is the lead book reviewer. He is an atheist. Gray has written several influential books, including "" (1998), which argues that free market globalization is an unstable Enlightenment project currently in the process of disintegration; "Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans