Blackwell Reference Online

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M odern E uropean philosophy Heidegger held that facticity comprises the concrete situations and the cultural and historical contexts into which Dasein finds itself thrown a priori , and which constitute the concrete limitations of human possibilities. As one component of care, facticity is a mode of Being of Dasein. In contrast, Heidegger called what are merely material and non-human conditions factuality. Dasein exists not factually, but factically. Its facticity indicates that Dasein cannot transcend its concrete situations as a free-floating spirit, but must have its Being in the world. Facticity is disclosed by one of Dasein 's existentiales, that is, its state of mind. For Sartre , facticity was the set of facts relevant or given to the person, for example his physical characteristics, his parents, and his unique position. It represents the contingency of human existence and belongs to being-in-itself . According to Sartre, this finitude of human existence does not determine our freedom or our fundamental project. Instead, it is the basis upon which we make our free choices. An infinite being does not need to exercise choice, and human choice consists precisely in discovering a person's facticity and seeking to negate or surpass its limitations toward existing as an ideal self-determinating being. “The concept of ‘facticity’ implies that an entity ‘within-the-world’ ... log in or subscribe to read full text