THE ESSENCE OF TRUTH
authentic having. Only in so far as we exist out of this authentic striving are we at all able to estimate what we possess or do not possess of beings, and are we able to decide whether we 'have' something authentically or inauthentically. Indeed, only from authentic striving can it be decided what having and not-having can mean for man. At bottom, the authentically existing human being does not strive in order to have and possess, but the reverse: he 'has' and possesses, i.e. beings are referred to him in his Dasein, and he is referred to them, so that in authentic striving for being he strives for his own Dasein, wherein it occurs that beings come to be and not to be [worin überhaupt geschieht, daß Seiendes mend und un-seiend wird].
We have attempted to clarify 'striving for being' by contrasting authentic striving in its essential constitution with having (possessing) and also with inauthentic striving. Yet we still cannot get a steady view of what this striving is; it becomes blurred and ever farther withdrawn from us if we believe it can be observed like stomach pains and similar experiences. But we could presumably obtain a better understanding of authentic striving for being if we could clearly indicate the nature of what is thus striven for - just being. What is being? Plato does not pose this question, nor does anyone after him. But being is what it is really about, indeed precisely as that, (ὧ ἐπορέγεται αὐτὴ ἡ ψυχὴ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν, that, 'for which the soul itself strives through itself, for itself, and toward itself. It is being which in all circumstances is already present and there, not as a thing or any kind of object, but as that which is striven for in authentic striving. Whether we are aware of this or not, it is being that is most primordially and comprehensively held in striving. This characteristic of striving for being does not help us with the question of what being and authentic striving are in themselves. Plato explains only what is involved in the striving of the soul. What is all-important for him is that we see that, and how, precisely being is what is most primordially striven for. This is best done by bringing other elements of striving into view, whereby, however, it is being that is at bottom striven for.
In order to focus on and comprehend what is striven for in this striving, Socrates asks Theaetetus (186 a 5 ff.):
Ἦ καὶ τὸ ὅμοιον καὶ τὸ ἀνόμοιον καὶ τὸ ταὐτὸν καὶ ἕτερον;