Friday, September 25, 2015

Transcendental idealism: brief thoughts

Transcendental idealism in three sentences: I am I. I am not not-I. The non-I is given, and not derived from the self; the non-I is transcendentally constructed by and not known apart from the self.

Or in three words: identity, difference, act.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Seraphim,

    I discovered your blog by way of the exchange that you had with the late Stratford Caldecott. It is oh so rare to find orthodox Christians who are genuinely familiar with the Traditionalist School of Guenon and Schuon.

    I apologize for my presumption, but I hope that you'd be willing to give your opinion on a couple of things that have preoccupied me. I came (returned) to the faith of my childhood, Roman Catholicism, by way of the Perennialist point of view. Ever since then, I have immersed myself in the spiritual/intellectual tradition of the Roman Church, especially the Thomistic thinkers. I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to hear that I have found it difficult to reconcile the "transcendent unity of religions" with the central tenets of traditional Christianity. The "Perennialist-Christian project" seems to rest on the applicability of the doctrine of maya in Divinis, of the distinction between Nirguna and Saguna Brahman. Christian Perennialists seem to make the claim that same teaching can be found in their tradition by way of the Essence-Energy distinction. Do you think that these are, in fact, the same? And, how can a western Christian view this position who don't admit of the essence-energy distinction in the first place?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Chris,

      Due to computer troubles, I was unable to respond to your comment here, so I wrote a new post to respond (http://byzantinechesterton.blogspot.com/2016/07/saguna-brahmannirguna-brahman-vs.html)

      I apologize for taking so long to see your comment; I've been away from my email and blog for months on end taking care of real-life responsibilities and other nonsense.

      Delete
  2. Hi Chris,

    Due to computer troubles, I was unable to respond to your comment here, so I wrote a new post to respond (http://byzantinechesterton.blogspot.com/2016/07/saguna-brahmannirguna-brahman-vs.html)

    I apologize for taking so long to see your comment; I've been away from my email and blog for months on end taking care of real-life responsibilities and other nonsense.

    ReplyDelete