Reflection IX: Feeling Fine 

11/10/2019 

We are all slaves to rationalism. While I believe that rationalism is a very 

important and necessary part of furthering the human race; it lacks something. I wasn’t 

sure what this something is, but I know that there was always a missing piece in the lives 

of those who only live by rationalism. Miguel De Unamuno, a famous Spanish 

existentialist, claims that what rationality lacks is passion. Passion is what drives us as 

humans; it's what gives us purpose. He is quoted as saying “[we philosophize] in order to 

live, not the other way around.” This implies that we use philosophy in order to create 

passion in our lives; give life meaning. He introduces a counter idea to rationalism; 

dogmatism. This is the idea that we create a set of beliefs, whether rational or not, to give 

ourselves meaning. Miguel believed that science may explain life, but subjectivity is what 

truly gives life meaning. Of course, being completely dogmatic is not a good thing, just 

like being completely rational is detrimental. A man who is completely consumed by 
dogmatism, will use no logic in his decisions; he is usually unreliable too. If you ask a 

dogmatic man to commit to something, chances are, he will not follow through with 

this commitment. His dogmatic beliefs will always come before any decision, thus 

drowning out any chance of the logical decision being made. You live in the world you 

want to live; not the one others would like you to live in. Those who follow a religion 

are most always dogmatic. They will put their religious beliefs and values before all else. 

Christians hold the Ten Commandments to be the highest priority set of rules, thus 

defying the rational rules of those around them. It is important that we as Da-sein, find 

a balance between rationality and dogmatism. We cannot live without a balance between 

the two.  

You may be asking myself, as I definitely was when I first heard it, “what in the 

hell is a ‘Da-sein?’” This word is one that was coined by the great German philosopher 

Martin Heidegger; who is regarded as one of the most original and important 

philosophers of the 20th century. Da-sein is best described as “human beings.” I am 
Da-sein. You are Da-sein. We are all Da-sein. If you are a person who is aware of his 

existence in this universe; you are Da-sein. If a being is concerned about its being; then 

it is a being, a Da-sein. The question of the problem of being is one that Heidegger tries 

to answer in his teachings. I get the sense that a lot of his teachings rely on figuring out 

what the true meaning of existential words mean, and how it affects the Da-sein. For 

example, he explains that existence is “the very being to which Da-sein can relate in one 

way or another, and somehow always does relate.” Our existence is determined by the 

choices we are aware we can make. While we may not always be aware of the consequences 

of the choices, we are aware of the decisions that we make and realize that it is unique to 

us. ​To choose a choice that we know that we would not usually make, and make said 

choice due to it being out of character, is to abandon our existence.