Existential anthropology: what could it be? An interpretation of Heidegger

Abstract

Based on an interpretation of the work of Martin Heidegger, this article offers a shift away from social and cultural anthropology, which explores sociocultural aspects, and also from general anthropology, which aims to summarise all dimensions of human being. The author defines the specificity of existential anthropology: observing and conceiving human beings as they exist and continue to exist towards death. With a few twists in relation to Heidegger’s thought, the author discusses what is theoretically and methodologically at stake in this perspective, opening existential anthropology to a large empirical field.