The 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger was interested in transcending what is known as the “subject-object distinction” in philosophy—rejecting the dichotomy between mind and world (or between mind and body) by analyzing the ways in which we humans (“Dasein” as he called human beings—”being there” in German) are immersed in the world in meaningful ways instead of merely looking at the external world as passive observers with a disembodied or abstract consciousness. When you are immersed in something, the relevant parts of the physical world are intertwined with your very being, with both your consciousness and your physical body, such that the physical world can seem to be an extension of your very being.

¶ 9:31 AM