Tariq Khan

Martin Heidegger, a foundational existentialist philosopher, introduced the concept of Dasein, which defines a unique relationship between humans and their environment. Dasein, meaning “being there” in German, denotes a mode of existence distinct from non-Dasein, emphasizing an engaged presence rather than a detached, objective stance. This paper explores how Dasein underpins human-environment relationships within existential philosophy, aiming to clarify its role in shaping ecological and ethical consciousness. It further examines Heidegger’s critique of intellectualism and rationalism, highlighting how Dasein establishes a basis for meaningful connections beyond abstract reasoning. Through Dasein, we propose a framework for environmental ethics that emphasizes direct, authentic interaction with the world, challenging modern perceptions of detachment.

There has been a notable increase in students’ usage of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, for academic purposes. The current study aimed to investigate the relationships between students’ innovation consciousness, need for cognition, and their usage of ChatGPT. The study also examined the relationship between ChatGPT usage and AI addiction, as well as tolerance for academic dishonesty. The data were collected through a three-wave time-lagged field survey, with 1-2-week intervals between waves, from a sample of 394 students across six higher education institutions in Pakistan. Most of the students belonged to public sector institutions and were enrolled in business schools. To avoid method bias issues, we employed a time-lagged design to maintain a temporal separation among the study variables. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that students with higher innovation consciousness were more inclined towards using ChatGPT for academic activities. Contrary to expectations, there was no connection between the need for cognition and ChatGPT usage. This indicates that a tendency toward deep thinking is not related to the use of ChatGPT. Moreover, ChatGPT usage was positively associated with AI addiction and increased tolerance for cheating. Further, the relationships between innovation consciousness and both AI addiction and tolerance for cheating were mediated by ChatGPT usage. The study offers implications for higher education institutions, emphasizing the need to promote the ethical use of GenAI and critical engagement among students. The limitations include the correlational nature of the study and reliance on self-reports, which may potentially introduce bias to the results.