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Transcendence and Self-Transcendence: On God and the Soul

[1] Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion are arguably among the most interesting and influential continental philosophers of the last two generations. Characteristically, all three follow the Heideggerian project of overcoming ‘metaphysics’ or ‘onto-theology’, that is, they attempt at establishing a philosophy which gives due weight to the otherness of the other, be it God or man, thereby resisting the Western tendency to reduce the other to an image made in my likeness. With the latest book by Merold Westphal, they found a theological companion who does not just share their aims, but is also able to meet the standards set by them. Westphal, Distinguished Professor for Philosophy at Fordham University, is perhaps not quite as original as they are, but he is outstandingly literate, has a clear systematic aim and represents the best of the Anglo-American tradition in being able to present his insights as an easy read in an elegant style. Although ultimately prone to some criticism, this book can be recommended whole-heartedly to anyone who, in search of an outline of the foundations of a post-metaphysical theology, is interested in a broad survey of different sources which is, at times, both surprising and truly convincing. [2] In a word, Westphal argues that broad strands of the Western philosophical tradition, culminating in modernity, think God, the world and other human beings to be at the subject’s disposal. The whole of reality is rendered intelligible to the subject’s philosophical reflection. For Westphal, this is bad theology because it reduces God to a means to an end of man’s dealing with the world. Any alternative to such an onto-theological approach has to give due weight to transcendence in a threefold sense: as cosmological, epistemic and ethical/religious transcendence. The cosmological transcendence refers to a theistic God whose free will creates ex nihilo, thereby safeguarding God’s freedom and alterity towards the world. The epistemic transcendence emphasises the fact that mankind knows about this God by revelation alone, so that God always remains a mystery to mankind. The ethical/religious transcendence concentrates on those men who are addressed by this God. They are enabled to act both towards God and their neighbour as truly other, who, in their otherness, have priority over them. Thus, these three aspects highlight different perspectives on God’s transcendence and