Abstract

Heidegger maintained that his inquiry in Being and Time was an ontological project rather than a form of cultural or social critique. Heidegger’s involvement with the Nazi regime however immediately gave way to studies into the relationship between his political activity and his philosophy. This thesis deepens this field of scholarship through an investigation of Heidegger’s theory of the subject in Being and Time and its implications for political theory. The focus for this analysis is Heidegger’s concept of ‘Das man’, which he claimed structural condition that regulated personhood. Through evaluating the scholarly debate between Hubert Dreyfus and Frederick Olafson, this thesis contends that in characterizing the public world of ‘Das Man’ as inauthentic, the ontological status of Heidegger’s ‘Das man’ cannot be sustained and ultimately represents a form conservative cultural-critique.