Frankie Qianlang Xun

Ms. Jensen

Philosophy HZT4U-KUP

September 29, 2023

To Be is Limbo

“Why are there beings at all instead of nothing?” (Heidegger). Martin Heidegger opens

his book, Introduction to Metaphysics (1953), with this question, and though the great ontologist

investigates the nature of being in his works quite extensively, the meaning of being is still not

fully confronted. Being can be seen as the precondition for any philosophical discussion, for to

speak, see, feel, or think about anything assumes a condition of positive existence. Yet, most

philosophical investigations or discussions are carried out without knowing what the

precondition of being entails. The purpose of this text is to prove that being is a constant process

of doubt, uncertainty and self-contradiction, through the lens of language and pure abstract logic.

To begin with, language is the only tool that human beings can use to pinpoint their

thoughts, ideas, and theories. Philosophy and most academic disciplines are essentially games of

language. The concept of “Being” and existence is, thus, also pinpointed by language. However,

every single declarative sentence has a truth value, for they all define something. In addition,

every inquiry or study of a sentence or anything with a truth value is definitionally

epistemological because to study the truth is to know, at least to attempt to know. Hence,

declarative sentences are knowledge; the study of knowledge is empistemology; henceforth, to

speak of what “Being” is, or what anything is for that matter, is empistemological. One has to

know to speak.
Body 2: All metaphysical questions are essentially epistemological, for they are all expressed

and presented in the form of language.

Body 3: Heiddeger also acknowledges that being is tautological in nature, so the meaning of

which ought to be tautological as well.

Conclusion:

Nevertheless, it is very strange that in this investigation or analysis of the meaning of being, I, as

author, constantly uses the verb “to be” or “is”. Being is everywhere, in the words people speak,

in the thoughts of everyone, and on this page. Words always hold some truth value. Yet, as

discussed in this analysis, truth is completely unreachable in the ambiguously defined world of

the subject. Hence, one should logically infer that the very words on this page right now are just

as uncertain and illegitimate as every other declarative sentences, from the thesis to the

arguments of this text. This should also include the last sentence that you just read. And this one

as well.