Heidegger's "Being-towards-Death" and Its Ethical Implications
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Heidegger's "Being-towards-Death" and Its Ethical Implications

Yanzhe Wang 1*
1 Queen's University
*Corresponding author: insiawang520@gmail.com
Published on 4 December 2025
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CHR Vol.100
ISSN (Print): 2753-7072
ISSN (Online): 2753-7064
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-577-6
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-578-3
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Abstract

This essay interrogates the ethical dimensions of Martin Heidegger's concept of "Being-towards-Death" (Sein-zum-Tode) as presented in Being and Time. While Heidegger's framework offers a powerful account of achieving authentic existence through confronting one's own finitude, it is simultaneously marred by a profound ontological egoism that sidelines ethical obligations to others. This paper critically examines Heidegger's position and juxtaposes it with Emmanuel Levinas's ethics of the Other. It contends that Levinas's altruistic ethics provides a necessary counterbalance to the intensely inward-focused self-awareness in Heidegger's thought, thereby preventing the latter from devolving into an extreme egoism. The conclusion suggests that a dialectical synthesis of these perspectives can foster a more holistic equilibrium between individual authenticity and ethical responsibility.

Keywords:

Heidegger, Levinas, Being-towards-Death, Ethics, Individuality, Das Man, Authenticity

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Wang,Y. (2025). Heidegger's "Being-towards-Death" and Its Ethical Implications. Communications in Humanities Research,100,35-39.

References

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[10]. Levinas, E. (1969). Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority. Duquesne University Press.

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[12]. Levinas, E. (1991). Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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[14]. Raffoul, F. (2010). The Origins of Responsibility. Indiana University Press.

[15]. Bernasconi, R. (2005). "Levinas and the Struggle for Existence". In Addressing Levinas. Northwestern University Press.

[16]. Chanter, T. (2001). Time, Death, and the Feminine: Levinas with Heidegger. Stanford University Press.

[17]. McMullin, I. (2023). Time and the Shared World: Heidegger on Social Relations. Northwestern University Press.

[18]. Simmons, J.A. (2022). Heidegger and the Lived Experience of Being. Northwestern University Press.

[19]. Nelson, E.S. (2020). Levinas, Adorno, and the Ethics of the Material Other. SUNY Press.

[20]. Davis, B.W. (2023). Heidegger and the Will: On the Way to Gelassenheit. Northwestern University Press.

[21]. Wood, D. (2001). The Deconstruction of Time (2nd ed.). Northwestern University Press.

Cite this article

Wang,Y. (2025). Heidegger's "Being-towards-Death" and Its Ethical Implications. Communications in Humanities Research,100,35-39.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceeding of ICIHCS 2025 Symposium: The Dialogue Between Tradition and Innovation in Language Learning

ISBN: 978-1-80590-577-6(Print) / 978-1-80590-578-3(Online)
Editor: Enrique Mallen, Heidi Gregory-Mina
Conference website: https://2025.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 26 November 2025
Series: Communications in Humanities Research
Volume number: Vol.100
ISSN: 2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)