Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person

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Transcendence and the Human Body

Module 004 – Transcendence and the Human

Body

This module will contain the following topics:

1. The definition of transcendence
2. Kant and modern philosophy
3. Husserlian phenomenology and Sartre
4. Self-transcendence

Transcendence
In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey three
different but related meanings, all of them derived from the word's literal meaning (from
Latin) of climbing or going beyond, that correspond with Ancient philosophy, Medieval
philosophy, and modern philosophy. The concept of transcendence, together with its paired
concept immanence, is a common philosophical term and is used by many philosophers.
The meaning of the concept of transcendence more or less differs according to each
philosopher's framework of thought.
Transcendence often refers to an experience with the divine or God, which is conceived
as absolute, eternal, and infinite. Negative theology and mysticism recognizes the limits of
conceptual understanding or linguistic articulation of that which transcends the
phenomenal world. Negative theology in particular is an example of an attempt to describe
what is transcendent by negating what is finite and relative.
Immanuel Kant characterized his critical philosophy as "transcendental" as an attempt to
explain the possibility of experience. While Kant's use of the term is unique to him, Edmund
Husserl also adopted the Kantian notion in his phenomenology.
Transcendence generally refers to the divine, or God, who is conceived as being
transcendent, infinite, absolute, and eternal. These concepts are difficult to conceptualize
and further difficult to define. They are, therefore, often defined in terms of the negation of
finite concepts. For example, infinite is defined as "not finite," eternity is "not temporal" or
"no beginning and no end." Negative theology likewise tries not to describe God in direct or
immediate terms, but tries to describe Him as a negation of what human beings can directly
conceptualize.
Although transcendence or immanence is not part of Plato's philosophical vocabulary,
his Ideas are divine objects that are transcendent of the world. In Plato's ontology, Ideas,
such as beauty and good, are eternal, absolute, and are manifested in a relative and
imperfect form in the world we live in.
Mysticism can also be seen as an attempt to access the divine, or that which is
transcendent.
Transcendence and Immanence
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 One use of the term transcendence, as part of the concept pair
transcendence/immanence, is the use of the term in reference to God's relation to
the world. Here transcendent means that God is completely outside of and beyond
the world, as opposed to the notion that God is manifested in the world. This
meaning originates in the Aristotelian view of God as the prime mover, a non-
material self-consciousness that is outside of the world. On the other hand,
philosophies of immanence such as stoicism and those held by Spinoza
and Deleuze maintain that God is manifested in the world.
Similarly, Plato's Ideas are also divine objects that transcend the world. For Plato,
the Idea of beauty is perfect and absolute, which manifests itself in imperfect form in
the phenomenal world. Similarly, the Idea of the Good is eternal, perfect, and
absolute, and transcendent of the world. On the other hand, goodness in the world is
imperfect, temporal, and finite, and it is understood in reference to the Idea of good.
Kant and modern Philosophy
In modern philosophy, Kant introduced a new use of the term transcendental. In
his theory of knowledge, this concept is concerned with the conditions of possibility
of knowledge itself. He also set the term transcendental in opposition to the
term transcendent, the latter meaning "that, which goes beyond" (transcends) any
possible knowledge of a human being. For him transcendental meant knowledge
about our cognitive faculty with regard to how objects are possible a priori. "I call all
knowledge transcendental if it is occupied, not with objects, but with the way that
we can possibly know objects even before we experience them.” He also
equated transcendental with that which is "...in respect of the subject's faculty of
cognition.” Something is transcendental if it plays a role in the way in which the
mind "constitutes" objects and makes it possible for us to experience them as
objects in the first place. Ordinary knowledge is knowledge of objects;
transcendental knowledge is knowledge of how it is possible for us to experience
those objects as objects. This is based on Kant's acceptance of David Hume's
argument that certain general features of objects (e.g. persistence, causal
relationships) cannot be derived from the sense impressions we have of them. Kant
argues that the mind must contribute those features and make it possible for us to
experience objects as objects. In the central part of his Critique of Pure Reason, the
"Transcendental Deduction of the Categories," Kant argues for a deep
interconnection between the ability to have self-consciousness and the ability to
experience a world of objects. Through a process of synthesis, the mind generates
both the structure of objects and its own unity.
A metaphilosophical question discussed by many Kant scholars is how
transcendental reflection is itself possible. Stephen Palmquist interprets Kant's
appeal to faith as his most effective solution to this problem.
For Kant, the "transcendent," as opposed to the "transcendental," is that which lies
beyond what our faculty of knowledge can legitimately know. Hegel's counter-
argument to Kant was that to know a boundary is also to be aware of what it bounds
and as such what lies beyond it—in other words, to have already transcended it.
Husserlian phenomenology and Sartre
In Husserlian phenomenology, the "transcendent" is that which transcends our own
consciousness—that which is objective rather than only a phenomenon of
consciousness. "Noema" (object of intentionality, that is, object of mental acts such
 Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person
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Transcendence and the Human Body

as thinking, feeling, imagining, hoping, believing, and others) is used in

phenomenology to refer to the terminus of an intention as given for consciousness.
Following the Kantian distinction, Husserl distinguishes transcendental from
transcendent. Transcendental means a type of discourse that explains the possibility
of experiences, that is, why and how experience is possible. So "transcendental
phenomenology" is a phenomenology which explains the condition of the possibility
of experience.
Jean-Paul Sartre also speaks of transcendence in his works. In Being and
Nothingness, Sartre uses the term transcendence to describe the relation of the self
to the object oriented world, as well as our concrete relations with others. For
Sartre, the for-itself is sometimes called a transcendence. Additionally, if the other is
viewed strictly as an object, much like any other object, then the other is, for the for-
itself, a transcendence-transcended. When the for-itself grasps the other in the
others world, and grasps the subjectivity that the other has, it is referred to as
transcending-transcendence. Thus, Sartre defines relations with others in terms of
transcendence.
Jaspers and other contemporary thinkers also used the concept of transcendence in
various ways as an integral part of their thoughts.

Self-Transcendence
Self-transcendence is the concept of making personal progress in different fields – physical,
mental spiritual. Self-transcendence means we seek to exceed our previous achievements
and extend our capacities.
One of the most famous American psychologists, Abraham Maslow, became widely known
for his theory of psychological health called as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It is often
illustrated as a pyramid with levels of our basic needs: (from top to bottom) self-
actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety and physiological.
Unknown to most, Maslow amended this model towards the end of his life. He argued that
there is another, higher level of development, what he called self-transcendence. We
achieve this level by focusing on goals beyond the self like altruism, spiritual awakening,
liberation from egocentricity, and ultimately the unity of being. Here is how he put it:
Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of
human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself,
to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to
the cosmos. (The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, New York, 1971, p. 269.)
This is not to be confused with self-actualization because the latter refers to fulfilling your
own potential while the former refers to literally transcending the self.
There are three kinds of self-transcendence. These are the following:
Physical Self-Transcendence.
Self-Transcendence can most easily be measured through improvements in physical
achievements. In running, it involves trying to break new records in both time and
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 speed. The beauty of self-transcendence is that it can be practiced by anyone; we
need not compete with others, we can just compete with ourselves. From this
perspective, we can get great joy by surpassing our previous personal bests.
Spiritual self-transcendence.
Self-transcendence is a concept that is incorporated into different spiritual
traditions. In this regard, we are seeking to go beyond our limited state of ego to
expand our own consciousness. When we identify only with the body and ego, it is a
limited perspective. Spiritual traditions suggest we are more than just a frail body.
Through practicing yoga and spiritual traditions, we learn to expand our
consciousness and feel our connection with the universal Self.
Physical and Spiritual Self-Transcendence.
There is no need to separate the physical self-transcendence with spiritual
development; they can harmoniously work together and complement each other.
One notable example of this is the 3100-mile Self Transcendence race founded by Sri
Chinmoy. The 3100 mile is an epic race which can take competitors between 45 – 60
days to complete. To run such a mind-boggling distance requires the co-operation of
both body and soul. By completing this act of physical transcendence, we are going
beyond the limits of what the mind may think possible. By stretching our physical
capacities, we also delve into a different understanding of ourselves.

References and Supplementary Materials

Online Supplementary Reading Materials
1. Transcendence;
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Transcendence_%28philosophy%29;
June 1, 2017
2. Summary of Maslow on Self-Transcendence;
https://reasonandmeaning.com/2017/01/18/summary-of-maslow-on-self-
transcendence/; June 1, 2017
3. Self-Transcendence; https://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/articles/self-
transcendence.html; June 1, 2017