Transcendent
Transcendent
(L. transcendere to climb over, surpass, go beyond) That which is beyond, in any of several senses. The opposite of the immanent (q.v.).
In Scholasticism notions are transcendent which cannot be subsumed under the Aristotelian categories. The definitive list of transcendentia comprises ens, unum, bonum, verum, res, and aliquid.
For Kant whatever is beyond possible experience is transcendent, and hence unknowable.
Metaphysics and TheologyGod (or the Absolute) is said to be transcendent in the following senses
perfect, i e., beyond limitation or imperfection (Scholasticism);
incomprehensible (negative theology, mysticism);
remote from Nature (Deism);
alienated from natural man (Barthianism). Pluralism posits the essential mutual transcendence of substances or reals.
EpistemologyEpistemological dualism (q.v.) holds that the real transcends apprehending consciousness, i.e., is directly inaccessible to it. Thought is said to be “self-transcendent” when held to involve essentially reference beyond itself (s. intentionahty).
Ethics. Moral idealism posits the transcendence of the will over Nature (see Freedom). — W.L.