Thine Own Self: Individuality in Edith Stein's Later Writings

Glossary

Glossary Akt act ausgewirkt Wesen worked-out essence Dasein spatio-temporal existence1 Einzelsein being individual Einzelwesen  individual essence or individual entity2 gedankliches Sein mental being Gehalt (real or psychological) content3 individuelles Wesen individual form4 I appreciate the advice of Karl Schudt, John Drummond, and Ryan Gable in selecting several of the translations in this glossary. 1. Since Heidegger, it is common to translate “Dasein” as “human being.” Stein, however, is not using Dasein in this sense but, rather, following something closer to Hedwig Conrad-Martius’s use of the term. 2. I will choose between these as the context dictates. See n. 4 below as well as n. 3 of chapter 1. At times Einzelwesen is used in a rather generic sense, comparable to Lebewesen (living being, animal). At such times “individual entity” is appropriate. Where Stein appears interested in something more technical, I will use “individual essence.” 3. On EeS 45/ESG 50/FEB 46–47, Stein says, “The content [Gehalt] is essentially —if not alone—determinate for the unity of the structure. Joy over a good report is one such unity. . . . The experience of the content [Gehaltes] of ‘joy’ is therefore conditioned on two sides: by the object and by the I. The object—in this case, the content [Inhalt] of the report—does not belong as a part to the joy as experience-content [Gehalt], but belongs, however, to the direction toward this object (the intention, according to the linguistic usage of the phenomenologist).” Inhalt here appears to be the objective or meaning content (of the report), while Gehalt is the real content, following Husserl’s use of meaning and real content. 4. Given my translation below of Wesen as essence, it appears that both Einzelwesen and individuelles Wesen should be translated as “individual essence.” I have chosen to be inconsistent in order both to distinguish this term from her many other terms referring to essence and to highlight the similarities between Stein’s individuelles Wesen and the philosophical tradition emphasizing individual forms. Individuelles Wesen is clearly a unique, individual form and not merely a single instance of the more universal essence. At times Einzelwesen appears to mean the same thing, yet at others Stein appears to mean simply a particular instance of the universal. Compare, for example, EeS 235/ESG 219/FEB 252, EeS 243/ESG 227/FEB 260–61, and EeS 463/ESG 424/FEB 506–7. See also n. 3 of chapter 1 below. xxix xxx Glossary Inhalt (objective) content leere Form empty form5 Macht power Möglichkeit possibility Potenz potentiality reine Form pure form Ruhen abidingness Seiende (ens)  entity, particular being (unless “being” can be used without confusion)6 Sein (esse) being, existence Träger substrate7 Vermögen ability volle Was full what Washeit quiddity8 (literally, “whatness”) Wesen (essentia) essence wesen (as verb) to be in an essential way9 wesenhaftes Sein essential being10 5. I will not discuss Stein’s use of “empty form,” but it is worth noting the influence of Husserl in her choice of terms and understanding of empty form. 6. For the purposes of this text, Seiende will be translated either as “entity” or as “a particular being.” I like “entity” for its clarity and simplicity. It avoids confusing Seiende with Sein. It does not, however, capture the connection with being and the transcendentals that Stein’s German has. In Finite and Eternal Being V, Stein focuses on Seiendes als solches; “entity as such” is an insufficient translation here, and “being” is much more adequate. In a way similar to Stein’s use of Seiende and Sein, we can differentiate two senses of ens, a nominative and a participial sense. See Augusta Gooch’s Metaphysical Ordination: Reflections on Edith Stein’s “Endliches und Ewiges Sein” (Ph.D. diss. University of Dallas, 1982), esp. chapter 2, §4. 7. I have considered several different English words for Träger, including “carrier” and “bearer,” and I have chosen to render it “substrate” for the sake of this text (discussed in chapters 5 and especially 6 below), although I prefer “carrier ” in other contexts. It is a difficult term to translate, not because the German is ambiguous, but because Stein uses Träger in numerous contexts. For example, in Finite and Eternal Being II, §6; IV, §4, 5; VII, §1; and VIII, §2, 3. 8. Stein uses Washeiten as the plural of Wesenswas because there is no plural form of “Was.” See EeS 82/ESG 81/FEB 84. Several times Stein puts the...