Wan-I Yang is a Taiwanese professor at the Institute of Philosophy, National Sun Yat-sen University.

III. SOLITUDE AND THE OTHER

The transformation of the meaning of truth

The transcendental meaning of the tradition opened by Socrates and Plato shapes the construction of the modality of the subject in Western philosophy; this kind of subject, which transcends the limit of existence, is no longer “the human being” caught within the real of existence. This kind of transcendence, realized in opposition to existence, thus appears as an irreversible movement that denies its own origin in the direction of an ascent. According to Parmenides, being is immobile; according to the coherent principle between being and thought, what thought holds is therefore eternal truth. Transcendence in the tradition of Socrates and Plato is a spiritual activity oriented toward eternal truth; it is also an effort to escape the dilemma of being, in pursuit of universal value — just as Abraham indicates: the path of transcendence is Isaac’s relief.

Kierkegaard’s account produces a strong dramatic tension between Isaac and Abraham, who points Isaac toward transcendental truth; it seems that Isaac, who is about to be killed, is deeply convinced by the words of the father who is about to kill him. If we say that Isaac believes his father regarding transcendence, we should rather say that his trust in Abraham brings about his belief. We see once again how immanence realizes transcendence by being the origin of transcendence. But as the analysis above shows, the path of transcendence indicated by Abraham is grounded in his love for Isaac; once Abraham’s immanence is lost, it seems that Isaac can no longer continue to believe this truth. Once the modality of the value of objectivity, universality, and eternity that appears in the transcendental mode leaves its origin — immanence — would it harden into mere rule? Once the eternal transcendental truth of traditional philosophy loses its immanent foundation, what would become of it once it leaves behind life and the feelings between people?

In the tradition that opposes the world to reason and opposes immanence to transcendence, the subject of philosophy is reason transcending the limit of existence, but not the human being. Under this tradition, the........

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