Culture and transcendence – the concept of transcendence through the ages
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Eero Tarasti
Abstract
The notion of transcendence is perhaps the most provocative new issue which existential semiotics tries to launch for theoretical reflection in contemporary semiotics and philosophy. The following paper lays out three species of transcendence in existential semiotics: empirical, existential and radical. Empirical means elements in our living world which are abstract, intelligible aspects as in the sense of the German understanding of sociology. The existential means that we leave our four-part ‘zemic’ universe by a reflection, either as negation or affirmation. That constitutes the supra-zemic level. The radical one is beyond all temporality, narrativity, etc. a purely conceptual state, of which we can speak only by metaphors. Either transcendence can be naturalized as an aspiration to something more complete than our deficient Dasein. Or it is seen as the ultimate principle which emanates its influence on earth as in theological doctrines. It depends on the epistemic choice which standpoint we adopt. Thus we have views on transcendence through the ages from Plato to Sufi thinkers, Ibn Arabi and Avicenna through Thomas Aquinas and Dante reaching Kant, Hegel and other philosophers.
Ultimately, the goal discussed in this paper is the elaboration of a transcultural theory of transcendence whereby we could construct a metalanguage to deal with different conceptions of transcendence. Such a theory would have far-reaching pragmatic consequences.
Abstract
The notion of transcendence is perhaps the most provocative new issue which existential semiotics tries to launch for theoretical reflection in contemporary semiotics and philosophy. The following paper lays out three species of transcendence in existential semiotics: empirical, existential and radical. Empirical means elements in our living world which are abstract, intelligible aspects as in the sense of the German understanding of sociology. The existential means that we leave our four-part ‘zemic’ universe by a reflection, either as negation or affirmation. That constitutes the supra-zemic level. The radical one is beyond all temporality, narrativity, etc. a purely conceptual state, of which we can speak only by metaphors. Either transcendence can be naturalized as an aspiration to something more complete than our deficient Dasein. Or it is seen as the ultimate principle which emanates its influence on earth as in theological doctrines. It depends on the epistemic choice which standpoint we adopt. Thus we have views on transcendence through the ages from Plato to Sufi thinkers, Ibn Arabi and Avicenna through Thomas Aquinas and Dante reaching Kant, Hegel and other philosophers.
Ultimately, the goal discussed in this paper is the elaboration of a transcultural theory of transcendence whereby we could construct a metalanguage to deal with different conceptions of transcendence. Such a theory would have far-reaching pragmatic consequences.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
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Section 1: Semiotics in the world and academia
- What the humanities are for – a semiotic perspective 3
- Semioethics as a vocation of semiotics. In the wake of Welby, Morris, Sebeok, Rossi- Landi 25
- “General semiotics” as the all-round interdisciplinary organizer – general semiotics (GS) vs. philosophical fundamentalism 45
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Section 2: Semiotics, experimental science and maths
- Semiotics as a metalanguage for the sciences 61
- Mastering phenomenological semiotics with Husserl and Peirce 83
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Section 3: Society, text and social semiotics
- Farewell to representation: text and society 105
- Social semiotics: Towards a sociologically grounded semiotics 121
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Section 4: Semiotics and media
- What relationship to time do the media promise us? 149
- Semiotics and interstitial mediatizations 169
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Section 5: Semiotics for moral questions
- Spaces of memory and trauma: a cultural semiotic perspective 185
- Media coverage of the voices of Colombia’s victims of dispossession 205
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Section 6: Questioning the logic of semiotics
- Sense beyond communication 225
- Semiotic paradoxes: Antinomies and ironies in a transmodern world 239
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Section 7: Manifestoes for semiotics
- Semiosis and human understanding 257
- Culture and transcendence – the concept of transcendence through the ages 293
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Section 8: Masters on past masters
- From Peirce’s pragmatic maxim to Wittgenstein’s language-games 327
- Semiotics as a critical discourse: Roland Barthes’ Mythologies 353
- Ricoeur, a disciple of Greimas? A case of paradoxical maïeutic 363
- Index 377
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
-
Section 1: Semiotics in the world and academia
- What the humanities are for – a semiotic perspective 3
- Semioethics as a vocation of semiotics. In the wake of Welby, Morris, Sebeok, Rossi- Landi 25
- “General semiotics” as the all-round interdisciplinary organizer – general semiotics (GS) vs. philosophical fundamentalism 45
-
Section 2: Semiotics, experimental science and maths
- Semiotics as a metalanguage for the sciences 61
- Mastering phenomenological semiotics with Husserl and Peirce 83
-
Section 3: Society, text and social semiotics
- Farewell to representation: text and society 105
- Social semiotics: Towards a sociologically grounded semiotics 121
-
Section 4: Semiotics and media
- What relationship to time do the media promise us? 149
- Semiotics and interstitial mediatizations 169
-
Section 5: Semiotics for moral questions
- Spaces of memory and trauma: a cultural semiotic perspective 185
- Media coverage of the voices of Colombia’s victims of dispossession 205
-
Section 6: Questioning the logic of semiotics
- Sense beyond communication 225
- Semiotic paradoxes: Antinomies and ironies in a transmodern world 239
-
Section 7: Manifestoes for semiotics
- Semiosis and human understanding 257
- Culture and transcendence – the concept of transcendence through the ages 293
-
Section 8: Masters on past masters
- From Peirce’s pragmatic maxim to Wittgenstein’s language-games 327
- Semiotics as a critical discourse: Roland Barthes’ Mythologies 353
- Ricoeur, a disciple of Greimas? A case of paradoxical maïeutic 363
- Index 377
