Transcendence

Transcendence, from the Latin transcendere, “to climb over” or “go beyond”, describes what surpasses the world, or the limits of thought and language. In theology it is God’s otherness from creation: God is not one thing among others, not contained in space or time, and not adequately described by any concept.

Transcendence is usually paired with immanence, God’s presence within the world. The traditions hold them together in different ways. The apophatic theologians stress that God is beyond every name, while also present in all things; the Kabbalists distinguish the hidden Ein Sof from the Shekhinah dwelling in the world; Islam affirms that nothing is like God, and that God is nearer than the jugular vein. Neoplatonism places the One beyond being itself.

In modern philosophy, Kant used “transcendent” for what lies beyond possible experience, and “transcendental” for the conditions of experience. Phenomenologists and existentialists speak of human transcendence, the self’s going beyond itself toward the world and others.