More on things

Things aren’t just things. At least they weren’t to Heidegger. In his Being and Time he makes an important distinction between two kinds of entities: most things come to us in our quest to solve something, do something or other, resolve a question or what have you. A nail sticks out. What are you looking for? A hammer. How do you approach the hammer? As an instrument to put the nail where it should be. The hammer becomes a thing to us as a tool to deal with the nail. This way of becoming present is what Heidegger referred to as Zuhandenheit, often translated as Readiness-at-hand.

Posted 27 Oct, 2016. Modified 6 Dec, 2025.
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About Torgeir Fjeld
Torgeir Fjeld is a writer, publisher, and educational administrator with PhDs in Philosophy (European Graduate School, 2017) and Cultural Theory (Roehampton University, 2012). His latest books include Introducing Ereignis: Philosophy, Technology, Way of Life (2022) and Rock Philosophy (2019). Fjeld regularly publishes articles in journals such as Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, International Journal of Žižek Studies, and Journal of Silence Studies in Education. Fjeld serves as Head of the Ereignis Center for Philosophy and the Arts. He is a Publisher at Tankebanen forlag, and Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Inscriptions. Fjeld has taught at universities across North America, Europe, and Africa.
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