Heidegger observes that "the meaning of Being" and "the truth of Being" (WBGM.

274)
mean the same thing. Heidegger sees Being as a means of understanding oneself; that is, as
linked to the ethical practice of Being in-the-world. Being is the concept that allows us to make
sense of ourselves, others, and things. Furthermore, we have the freedom to understand ourselves
in a specific way; that is, to care for others and things in a specific way.

He rejects the separation of ethics and ontology, theory and practice. "The original ethics is that
thinking which thinks the truth of Being as the primordial element of man, as one who exists"
(BW.235). Being ethically enacted in the world means understanding oneself in a certain way
and engaging others in a certain way. Heidegger refers to this type of ethical engagement as
caring for Being.

Caring for Being stems from two claims made by Heidegger in Sein und Zeit: "Dasein's Being
reveals itself as care" (SZ.182) and "Reality is referred back to the phenomenon of care"
(SZ. 211).

Being care as an ethical practice simply means that there is no "meaning" of Being without
human beings. In contrast, we require a concept of Being in order to understand ourselves, no
matter how rudimentary.

Heidegger believes that understanding ourselves as a whole is necessary for understanding

ourselves, and that caring for Being is an affirmation of our impermanence.