As used by existentialists, phenomenology became a study of the totality of human existence. Such a study focuses on the full range of human cognitive and emotional experience, including anxiety, dread, fear, joy, guilt, and anguish. Husserl’s student Heidegger expanded phenomenology into existential inquiry. Heidegger studied Dasein, or being-in-the-world. Dasein means “to be there”; but for humans “to be there” means “to exist there,” and existence is a complex process involving the interpretation and the evaluation of one’s experiences and making choices regarding those experiences. Heidegger believed that although humans have a free will, they are thrown by events beyond their control into their life circumstances. Thrownness determines such things as whether a person is male or female, rich or poor, attractive
or unattractive, and so on. It is up to each person to make the most of his or her life no matter what the circumstances. Positive growth occurs when a person explores possibilities for living through his or her choices. Choosing, however, requires entering the unknown, and this causes anxiety. For Heidegger then, exercising one’s freedom requires courage, but only by exercising one’s freedom can one live an authentic life a life that the person chooses and therefore a life for which the person is completely responsible. If a person lives his or her life in accordance with other people’s values, he or she is living an inauthentic life. For Heidegger the first step toward living an authentic life is to come to grips with the inevitability of death (nonbeing). Once a person comprehends and deals with finitude, he or she can proceed to live a rich, full, authentic life.