Probing the Role of Tradition in Authentic Life from Heidegger’s Perspective

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

2 PhD Candidate of Transcendent Theosophy, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Wisdom, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

The present article is organized with the aim of analyzing the place of tradition within the existential structure of Dasein and elucidating its role in the realization of an authentic life in Heidegger’s thought. In Heidegger’s philosophy, tradition is not merely a heritage transmitted from the past, but rather a mode of historical facticity into which Dasein is thrown and through which it encounters its own possibilities. The main question of this article is: how can a human being, thrown into the context of tradition, live authentically? The research method is based on the conceptual analysis and phenomenological interpretation of the fundamental concepts of thrownness, historicality, resoluteness, and being-towards-death, in order to reveal the relationship between tradition, authenticity, and freedom at the ontological level. The findings indicate that the content of an authentic life is determined by tradition, and in Heidegger’s thought, authenticity and autonomy consist in enacting the existing values within a tradition. Being true to one’s heritage and tradition is identical to being true to one’s deepest self. Tradition, as the historical realization of facticity, encompasses both limitation and freedom simultaneously; for in every tradition, restricting and disclosing aspects are present side by side. Therefore, Dasein’s freedom becomes possible within the boundaries of tradition as its own horizon of historicality. Consequently, an authentic life is not a rupture from the past, but a mode of responsible re-disclosure of Being; a disclosedness in which Dasein, by embracing its thrownness, transforms tradition from historical passivity into the possibility of self-understanding.

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Probing the Role of Tradition in Authentic Life from Heidegger’s Perspective

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References

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 20, Issue 55 - Serial Number 55
Articles
Issue 55, Summer 2026
July 2026
Pages 13-30

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