WhatisHeideggertalkingaboutwhenhesaysthatbeingconcealsitself?Thisisthefirststudytosystematicallyaddressthatquestion.KatherineWithyanalysestextsfromacrossHeidegger’sphilosophicalcareerandsortsthevariousphenomenaofconcealingandconcealmentthatHeideggerdiscussesintoahighly-structuredtaxonomy.Thetaxonomyclarifiestherelationshipsanddifferencesbetweensuchphenomenaaslēthē(forgottenness),thenothing,earth,excess,thebackgroundingoftheworld,andun-truth,aswellasspeakingfalsely,talkingidly,secrets,mysteries,seeming,andinauthenticdiscovering.Butinrelatinganddifferentiatingthesephenomena,thetaxonomyshowsthatnoneofthemistheself-concealingofbeing.Havingestablishedwhattheself-concealingofbeingisnot,Withyestablisheswhatitis.Shearguesthatbeingconcealsitselfinthatitshowsuptousaslackingthesortsofcontrastcasesthatrenderentitiesdeterminateandintelligible.Thisnovelandpowerfulinterpretationoftheself-concealingofbeingexplainswhythesecondaryliteraturetodatehasdiscusseditinvagueandmetaphoricalterms,aswellaswhyHeideggertendstocollapsebeing’sself-concealingintotheconcealmentoflēthē.Withy’sinterpretationisbothaclarificationofandacorrectivetoHeidegger’snotoriouslydifficultandsometimesmisleadingdiscussionsofbeingasself-concealing.
