Talking Transcendence: Scott Barry Kaufman in Dialogue with Alfonso Montuori (original) (raw)
Transcendence as a Human and Political Problem: The Case of David Walsh
global moral and political language of rights," (xii), Walsh proposes to establish a third, "as momentous as the other two," and in fact an antidote to the drift of the other two into dehumanizing instrumentalization or incoherence and chaos. This antidote is an "eschatological openness that is the indefinable mystery of the personal," an insight "present at the very inception of philosophy and Christianity," but made "fully transparent" only in this modern philosophical revolution. An appreciation of this insight implies a radical revaluation of modernity. Whereas Walsh began twenty years ago with the view that modern philosophy was complicit in "ideological madness" and nihilism, his intensive studies of the moderns has convinced him that "the death of metaphysics in thought has meant the return of metaphysics in life." (xiii) "There is no crisis," after all. (10) The "search for meaning" is "inexhaustible," fortunately. (11) Modern philosophy progressively articulates, not a denial of authoritative moral standards, but an awareness of "the unsurpassable exigency of goodness … that is all the more powerful for our inability to contain … [it] within discursive limits." (xiii) Moreover, at the deepest level this insight represents not a rupture with the classical and Christian thought but "a convergence with rational and revelatory tradition." (xiv) Thus the modern turn from "entities and concepts to an existential meditation on the horizon within which [philosophy] finds itself," and thus to an appreciation of "the profoundly mysterious mode" in which alone "the transcendent can surface" (xv) fulfills the deepest meaning of both Socrates and of Christonce the meaning of the Western tradition is emancipated from "the fixity of the categories we have inherited from the ancient thinkers," or from the claim that "nature [can] furnish guidance." (12) The modern philosophical revolution can teach us that the fact that "reason remains unknown to itself" (16) is good news, indeed a saving existential truth. Kant inaugurates this existential revolution. Thus, although he does not complete it, we can uncover the insight that gives rise to this revolution in his work, or through a meditation on it. It is Kant whose "removal of the false faith of dogmatism" effects "the liberation of the true faith of reason itself," (31), that is, who opens reason to an awareness of the unspeakable transcendence from which it issues. He was limited only by his "fretting" over "the connection between the purposiveness within him and the purposiveness outside of him," somehow resisting the insight he approached so closely that "the finality of his own exercise of freedom is already an instantiation of finality within nature." (34) This finality is not known theoretically but practically or rather, morally and existentially in the form of the priority of right "over all else." (41) Kantian "autonomy" should not then be regarded as "a departure from any subordination to an authority beyond the human," or as intending "the kind of unfettered individual freedom now associated with autonomy." (46) On the contrary, human transcendence finds no purer expression than in our capacity to disregard "all but what is right." (47) "Our deepest access to being thus lies through the moral life," (49) and "the Kantian ideals of autonomy, equality, and community can be grasped and pursued only as a unity." (47, f.n. 15, quoting Allen Wood.) That is, the liberation of practice from theory, of human freedom from metaphysics, issues not in individualism but in a seamless synthesis of equal autonomy and moral community. The freedom of each is the condition of the moral community of all, and vice versa.
Review of General Psychology, 2006
The conventional description of Abraham Maslow’s (1943, 1954) hierarchy of needs is inaccurate as a description of Maslow’s later thought. Maslow (1969a) amended his model, placing self-transcendence as a motivational step beyond self-actualization. Objections to this reinterpretation are considered. Possible reasons for the persistence of the conventional account are described. Recognizing self-transcendence as part of Maslow’s hierarchy has important consequences for theory and research: (a)a more comprehensive understanding of worldviews regarding the meaning of life; (b) broader understanding of the motivational roots of altruism, social progress, and wisdom; (c) a deeper understanding of religious violence; (d) integration of the psychology of religion and spirituality into the mainstream of psychology; and (e) a more multiculturally integrated approach to psychological theory.
Note: this is an expanded edition of my previous e-book: “Resonance with the Self”. A new chapter has been added on seven key principles for an integral kind of science, as well as a new appendix on the symbolism of the seven Sacraments. Chapter four has been expanded with some new items. Analysis of the seven aspects of thinking, exercises, observation of the stream of thought and much more. A bonus chapter on polarities and a summary of the first two chapters has been added. Goals of this book: Understanding the crisis of civilization: lack of vision, materialistic values, the long descent downwards Regaining purpose of life: the position of the human being in the world Finding meaning in a fragmented world Developing a solid understanding of life Forming a sound vision of one's role in society Developing a philosophy of life Working together to make a transition to a wholesome world: from ego-centric to ecocentric
Transcendentalism in Contemporary Literature
Transcendentalism is not Archaic: The Legacy of American Transcendentalism in Contemporary Literature, 2019
American Transcendentalism (1836-1860), despite having an amorphous and transient lifespan, holds strong importance in American history: religious, philosophical, and literary. Not only did this movement approach societal and spiritual life with new and radical perceptions concerning a variety of matters, but the tenets it preached still strike a certain chord within all who study them. Leaders of this compelling movement, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller, who are all prominent names in American literary history, called for a “transcendence” from a mediocre existence. Transcendentalism rooted from and sprouted diverse explanations of religion and philosophy including Unitarianism, Puritanism, and Idealism. However, in spite of the pivotal role politics, religion and philosophy played in the formation of the American Transcendentalist thought, this paper will not be discussing them. The following chapters have been orchestrated to exemplify, in breadth and depth, how 19th century American Transcendentalist doctrines yet seep from contemporary literature, contrary to a widespread belief that American Transcendentalist texts were extinguished when their explicitly transcendental authors passed away, and the movement itself subsided. In doing so, I will be analyzing two modern novels (fiction and nonfiction) in light of a quintessential transcendentalist text.
In defence of the transcendent
R ep ro d uced w ith perm is s i o n o f t he ed ito rs © Les Lancas ter and B ritis h Ps ycho l o gi cal S o ci ety, 2 0 0 1 In a fascinating book, Eugene Taylor (1999) has recently traced the lineage of Transpersonal Psychology in America. He writes of the 'new awakening' that is radically changing US culture in general and psychology in particular, and, convincingly to my mind, demonstrates the continuities between this awakening and what he terms the shadow culture. The shadow culture is identified with American folk psychology and includes major movements such as the transcendentalism of Emerson and Whitman, and William James' pragmatism.
Transcendent Experience, Process, and Praxis Within the ‘Transcendence Movement’
This thesis investigates the nature and dynamics of transcendent experience: phenomena I have witnessed in many individuals, groups, and organisations. Transcendent experience is best described as an attitude or way of life that is fundamentally different to what could be construed as the ‘normal’, conventional, and rationalistic attitudes that pervade our Western epistemological mind-set today as the most—if not sole—means to valuable knowledge and experience. This thesis does not seek to explain its features dogmatically and definitively—after all, such a phenomenon evades the reductive and totalising effects of rationalisation—but assesses a vast range of supporting literature to emphasise how it is manifesting itself across an equally vast and eclectic range of peoples. By examining evidence from contemporary personal accounts, historical case study, published biographical accounts, scholarly reports and personal anecdotes, a number of key characteristics and principles of transcendence are identified as underpinning their experiences. These principles include a commitment from the individual or group in question to embrace and practice ‘ways of knowing’ beyond rational cognition. There is a tendency for the subject to recognise themselves as involved in purposeful ways of knowing. This is seen as a recognition that the physical self is merged with a nature that is experienced by the subject as ‘transcendent’ to them; that is to say, a nature that is described as ‘divine’ or ‘spiritual’. A further principle is the subject’s openness to, and assimilation of, what is reported to be not one but multiple transcendent experiences. The benefits of these are construed to be a sense of belonging and a feeling of wellbeing—feelings, which it is claimed, could not be obtained through conventional ‘rational’ ways of knowing. In short, these people seem to be living according to, or at least intent on working towards, a transcendent way of ‘being’, one that validates non-rational, possibly ‘divine’ experiences as essentially ‘human’. Other key characteristics of transcendent experiences are ascertained, including the role of suffering and emptiness. The aim of this research is to investigate such claims and to assess the importance, for those involved, of this ‘transcendent’ approach to life. My investigations conclude that these experiences may be on the increase, and that something akin to a ‘transcendence movement’ can be traced as operating within society, despite—and perhaps because of—the overreliance on more rational attitudes to meaning and methods for arriving at ‘truth’, which are in themselves only relatively useful for life and often detrimental to feelings of wellbeing. The movement I outline engages with a way or depth of being that transcends individual beliefs and cultural differences, and brings the person into creative contact with sources that transcend his or her own limited, individual perspectives.
What are we to make of the very diverse conceptual unpacking of "transcendence" within contemporary scholarship? Is transcendence something that has been lost? Or is it simply to be rediscovered, or do we have only rumors of it? Taking Wessel Stoker's distinction of form (pattern / template) and content seriously, and acknowledging the normative character of our views on transcendence, this paper argues within a broad overview of contemporary discourses on transcendence for a critical revision thereof. It is a critical revision that unfolds as a motivation for the relocation of reflection on transcendence to contemporary theology-science discourses, that is, specifically to the interdisciplinary epistemic space (that is, with biology, neurosciences etc), that opens up between them. It is argued that such a relocated discourse will not only be able to address on the one hand, the shortcomings of contemporary metaphysical (theological) views on transcendence, but also their lack of credibility. On the other hand it will expose the inappropriateness of purely physicalistic approaches to being human. From the now shifted focus in a post-Darwinian, post-Kuhnian, and post-Popperian context on embodied rationality, human cognition, consciousness, evolutionary epistemology and interpreted experience, the theologian is forced to make sense of the deeper biological roots of human rationality and simultaneously of the implications thereof, namely that our mental capacities are constrained and shaped by the mechanisms of biological evolution. It is concluded that the relocated interdisciplinary discourse can unfold in an exciting and creative manner a constructive, explorative shift in contemporary reflection on (T)ranscendence beyond the accusation that such reflection is merely the dropping of fish (views on transcendence) from the (metaphysical) market into the fisherman's nets (templates) as they haul them in.
Measuring Transcendence: Extracting Core Constructs
2020
The construct of transcendence has proved difficult to define and operationalize, as is reflected by lack of robustness, consistency, and replicability in instruments designed to measure it. This paper examines the internal validity of the Self-Transcendence Scale (ST) (Cloninger, Svrakic, Przybeck, & Thomas, 1993), the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) (Piedmont, 1999) and the Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975) in an Australian sample, (n5233), to identify core and noncore constructs. All scales failed to replicate their hypothesized structure fully and subsequent factor analyses produced revised subscales. The results suggested that in the report of transcendence experiences one might not be able to separate core constructs: sacredness, interconnectedness, unity, and a higher consciousness effectively. Further, the dissolution of self proved to be a peripheral construct as suggested by MacDonald and Holland (2002) as did belief in the supernatural. Transcendence as a construct needs further theoretical analysis. Many human experiences are potentially spiritual, making spirituality difficult to define and operationalize (Elkins, Hedstrom, Hughes, Leaf, & Saunders, 1988, Slater, Hall, & Edwards, 2001)). Definitions center on the supernatural or transcendent quality, commonly found in descriptions of religious and mystical experiences (Moberg, 2002). Transcendence is a confusing construct as Maslow (1969) found (cited in Koltko-Rivera, 2006). He concluded that it was distinct from self-actualization and peak experience, and meant seeking a cause beyond the self, putting aside the needs of the personal self and identifying with something greater, ultimately the divine. He became aware of the difference between seeking one's full potential with its implications for health and wellbeing and being oriented primarily to the B-realm as one's way of living (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). In this view, self transcendence does not explicitly involve awareness of a supra-human dimension, but nevertheless seems connected to it. The recent work of Levenson, Aldwin, and Cupertino (2001) focused on transcending self. They argued that doing so involves a developmental process leading to wisdom, and is found in the elderly. Further, developing detachment from external definitions of the self, and the dissolving of rigid boundaries between self and other, brings about self transcendence (Levenson, Jennings, Aldwin, & Shiraishi, 2005). Their Adult Self Transcendence questionnaire identifies learning to go beyond narrow self interest. It does however include items associated with spiritual transcendence and the psychopathology of depression. Levenson et al.