The difference between Being and beings is termed by Heidegger as the ontological difference,which holds great significance in his thought.However,a long-standing debate exists over whether Heidegger's magnum opus Being and Time contains the ontological difference.Addressing this question,the French phenomenologist Marion,through detailed textual analysis,argues that Being and Time does articulate the"ontological difference."Yet,Marion's attitude toward the"ontological difference"in Being and Time is critical.On the one hand,focusing on Heidegger's"second breakthrough"in phenomenology following Husserl,Marion contends that the distinction between Dasein and reality in Heidegger's work can be traced back to the differentiation between consciousness and reality in Husserl's.The"ontological difference,"in this view,combines elements pertaining to ontic states and ontological concerns.On the other hand,the tripartite structure of the question of Being introduced at the beginning of Being and Time conflicts irreconcilably with the binary nature of the ontological difference.The ontological difference is thereby fragmented into two levels:the difference between Dasein as a unique being and the Being of beings,and the difference between the Being of beings and the meaning of Being.This dual fragmentation,stemming from the tripartite structure of the question of Being,ultimately prevents a reduction to the classic ontological difference between Being and beings,as what is interrogated in the question of Being—namely,Dasein hinders such a reduction.However,if Dasein's existence execute difference on multiple levels,and if the understanding of Being,as the possibility of the ontological difference,is rooted in Dasein's temporality,then the existential analytic in Being and Time can be interpreted as the explicit execution of the ontological difference.Dasein stands"between"being and beings,but this"between"is not a pre-existing domain.Rather,it is opened up through Dasein's existence,wherein the unfolding and manifestation of difference are multilayered.These layers of difference,as specific expressions of the ontological difference,are unified within it,revealed rather than excluded.For the ontological difference,the existential analytic signifies the conceptual clarification of the distinction between Being and beings,which is already implicitly understood in existence.The ontological difference,as formal-indicated,progressively gains its executed significance through the deepening of the existential analytic and is fulfilled in the primordial temporality of Dasein.
Ontological differenceBeing and TimeDaseinExecutionHeideggerMarion