Buren (GA63:nota 16) – Einsatz (“engaging”)

The single previous occurrence of Einsatz was translated simply as “engaging,” but here “initially engaging and bringing into play” has been used. Subsequently, Einsatz is rendered as “initial engagement and bringing into play” and the verb einsetzen as “to engage itself (and bring itself into play)” or as “to put forth initially and bring into play.” Einsatz, which Heidegger always uses in the sense of “the initial (interpretive) engaging and bringing into play (of the be-ing of facticity),” has a rich array of meanings on which he draws in connection with the theme of the dynamic directional sense of interpretation discussed in endnote 3: (1) the philosophical meaning of “starting point” in our “approach” to and “engagement” of subject matter; (2) the musical and theatrical meaning of the “entrance” of the orchestra or the “coming in” (of the violins, etc.); (3) the military meaning of “engagement,” “deployment,” or “bringing into action” of troops; (4) the game-related meaning of “bringing (a chess piece, ball, etc.) into play”; and (5) the aleatory meaning of “risk” or “stake.” With these meanings in mind, as well as his theme that philosophy is a “mode of Dasein’s self-encounter’ (see endnote 53) and of its “wakefulness” for itself, Heidegger states in the very next paragraph that the “initial engagement and bringing into play” of facticity hermeneutically “transports” (versetzt) it into an experience and interpretation of itself “in the moment.” Note also his explicit appeal to the above-mentioned game-related and aleatory meanings later in this section when he describes “the initial hermeneutical engagement and bringing into play” of facticity as “that with respect to, on the basis of, and with a view to which everything is like a card in a game staked.” The verb ergreifen is sometimes used in connection with Einsatz as well as Wachsein (”wakefulness”) and here means not only “to grasp” or “understand” facticity, but also “to seize,” “stir,” “rouse,” or “move” it. In these cases, it has been translated as “to grasp and stir.” Ansatz, which Heidegger uses in conjunction with Einsatz, has been rendered as “starting point” and “(initial) approach.”