• Soap Needswater
    3
    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!
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    Maybe take a look at Graham Harman's Tool Being, if you can get your hands on a copy.
  • I like sushi
    4.3k
    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
    3
    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
    13.8k


    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
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