Heidegger’s claim shifts language from a mere instrument to the very habitat in which human existence takes place. In the Letter on Humanism (1947), he writes that “language is the house of Being,” suggesting that we do not simply use words; rather, we inhabit the meanings and possibilities that words open. Thus, “dwelling” is not a sentimental metaphor but a way of naming how humans find orientation, significance, and belonging. By entering language, we enter a world that can be shared. The statement therefore reframes the question of what it means to be human: instead of a rational animal who occasionally communicates, the human is a being who first and foremost dwells by speaking and listening, and only within this dwelling can thinking and acting take shape. [...]
