So what is Dasein? If we look around at beings in general – from particles to planets, ants to apes – it is human beings alone (Heidegger thought) who are able to encounter the question of what it means to be, and it’s that encounter with the meaning of existence (more on which below) which is the mark of Dasein. Now, although Heidegger himself believed that, as a matter of fact, only human beings have the way of being of Dasein, he certainly didn’t rule out the possibility that other beings could, in principle, make the grade. So, in the present context, we might wonder whether replicants qualify. Can replicants, like human beings, encounter the question of the meaning of being? In other words, are replicants Dasein?

¶ 12:37 PM