Things, objects and tools

Soap Needswater October 06, 2019 at 21:22 2050 views 4 comments

Seeking a little assistance here. I am neck deep in Heidegger, Benjamin and so forth, in my research for a paper. Heidegger is giving me a headache. Can anyone point me to a good (meaning clear and concise) explanation or discussion of what the difference is between a thing and a tool? I get the differences between a thing and an object, al la heidegger (we have to remain within that time period)... but if a thing is participatory, how is a tool differentiated? What makes a thing not a tool? I just cannot find any relevant discussion that isn’t just reguritating Heidegger, and repeating the vague bits in the same way!

Comments (4)

Streetlight October 07, 2019 at 03:10 #338888 0 likes

Maybe take a look at Graham Harman's Tool Being, if you can get your hands on a copy.

I like sushi October 07, 2019 at 03:24 #338894 0 likes

I’ll repost my reply again then ... I say if you cannot find a constructive argument then say so in whatever you are working on.

Hopefully this response won’t be deleted too ...

Soap Needswater October 07, 2019 at 16:37 #339161 0 likes

Ty for the replies! I will definitely look into Harman... if he post dates Heidegger I can find some way to reference the concepts. And I can say that there wasn’t a clear discussion of his ideas differentiating the two... but I would expect that to be challenged. If it isn’t clear it would be my job to make the best case argument based on what does exist.

Terrapin Station October 07, 2019 at 20:03 #339264 0 likes

Reply to Soap Needswater

Did you try the Stanford encyclopedia? For example, this section of the Heidegger article might be helpful to you: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger/#ModEnc