Transcendence

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani links transcendence to the three monotheisms, which he calls "religions of transcendence." In his view, they are all born in the desert: nature offers nothing there, so salvation can only come from above, beyond what is there1. This God outside time cannot be represented or pronounced, like the tetragrammaton2. Islam draws the consequence by forbidding the representation of living beings, hence the arabesque, whereas Christianity, through the incarnation, makes God both transcendent and immanent3. He sets transcendence against pagan and Greek immanence. By placing God beyond, Christianity disenchants nature, reduced to matter and motion, which makes the principle of inertia and the scientific revolution possible4. For him, cathedral spires, minarets, skyscrapers and space conquest are its modern expressions. He also links transcendence to Plato's "raised finger" pointing toward the intelligible5, and finds it again in Kafka's castle, always beyond and out of reach6.

1. 1La laïcité, vérité de la religion ?18 Feb 2024 · 45:24
2. 2#5 Bien-et Mé-faits de l'amnésie...19 Nov 2020 · 57:56
3. 3"Je est un autre" ou l'identité contradictoire12 Dec 2023 · 17:45
4. 4#4.6 Angélique (de Nerval)15 Mar 2018 · 40:39
5. 5Les fondements de la distinction platonicienne et aristotélicienne5 May 2026 · 10:45
6. 6L'identité imaginaire15 May 2025 · 19:41

Summary produced automatically from 27 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.