The German philosopher Martin Heidegger believed that human knowledge, at its most foundational and meaningful, is ineffable. Moreover, it requires stepping beyond what one sees as the established rules and into the realm of the unknown. Think of a master jazz musician or an elite athlete who, after facing an unpredictable moment, would find it impossible to convey precisely how and why they did what they did to deliver a peak performance. In this excerpt from his feature-length documentary Being in the World (2010), the Italian American director Tao Ruspoli interrogates Heidegger’s ideas via conversations with philosophers, including the late Hubert Dreyfus, and practitioners such as a chef, a carpenter and a speedboater. Focusing on highly skilled individuals across a wide variety of domains, the film illustrates something universal – how venturing beyond the comfortable and the quotidian is essential to mastering our own lives.
This is the second of three excerpts from Being in the World to be featured on Aeon Video. You can watch the first excerpt here, and the film in its entirety here.
