APA Dictionary of Psychology

n. in the thought of German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), that aspect of Dasein (being-in-the-world) that is constituted by a person’s engagement with the world immediately around them. The term was introduced into the vocabulary of psychology chiefly through the work of Swiss existential psychologist Ludwig Binswanger (1881–1966). Compare Eigenwelt; Mitwelt. [German, literally: “around world”]