30
ON TIME AND BEING

hand, an awakening from the oblivion of Being—an awakening which must be understood as a recollection of something which has never been thought—but on the other hand, as this awakening, hot an extinguishing of the oblivion of Being, but placing oneself in it and standing within it. Thus the awakening from the oblivion of Being to the oblivion of Being is the awakening into Appropriation. The oblivion of Being can first be experienced as such in the thinking on Being itself, on Appropriation.

The character of this thinking was often called the "step back." At first this step back is understood as an "away from" and a "toward." Thus Heidegger's thinking would be the movement away from the openness of beings toward openness as such which remains concealed in manifest beings. However, something else is thought in the phrase "step back." The step steps back before, gains distance from that which is about to arrive. The gaining of distance is a removal of distance, the freeing of the approach of what is to be thought.

In the step back, openness as such appears as what is to be thought. But in what direction does it shine? Thought in terms of the step back, where does that step lead us? The "whither" cannot be determined. It can only be determined in the taking of the step back, that is, it can only result from corresponding to that which appears in the step back.

With regard to the indeterminacy of this "whither," a fundamental difficulty became evident. Does this indeterminacy exist only for knowledge in such a way that the place of appearance is in itself determined, but still concealed from knowledge? If, on the other hand, this indeterminacy exists not only for knowledge, but is rather an indeterminacy of the manner of being of the "whither" itself, then the question arises of how such an indeterminacy can be thought which is not to be understood merely in terms of the need of our not yet knowing.

To the extent that this was clarified, one could say in spite of the inadequacy of these expressions: The "that" of the place of the "whither" is certain, but as yet how this place is, is concealed from


Summary of a Seminar on the Lecture "Time and Being" (GA 14) by Martin Heidegger