Against Empiricism

Heidegger got it exactly right: “We never really first perceive a throng of sensations, e.g., tones and noises, in the appearance of things . . . rather we hear the storm whistling in the chimney, we hear the three-motored plane, we hear the Mercedes in immediate distinction from the Volkswagen.  Much closer to use than all sensations are the things themselves.  We hear the door shut in the house and never hear acoustical sensations or even mere sounds.  In order to hear a bare sound we have to listen away from things, divert our ear from them, i.e., listen abstractly.”