Can Transcendental Self Be Made Transparent?

Abstract

The analysis made in this article reveals that the self (also known as the “soul”, the “inner being”, or the “transcendental self”) which was thought to be beyond human sensibility can now be explained using modern knowledge. The self is reduced to Species-specific-body-pattern (SSBP), whose source lies in the phylogeny of the species and, therefore, is empirical in nature. It is postulated that the SSBP can serve as the empirical analogue of the transcendental self. An individual is considered as a mixture of genetic and epigenetic features and these two features together play an important role in orienting individuals to a meaningful existence in the empirical world. The attributes of the self seem to fall under two categories, humanizing and transcendental. For those attributes described here―such as cognition, knowledge, immortality and infinitude―it is postulated that memory that retains the history of the individual can serve as the empirical analogue of the transcendental self. The immortality and infinitude properties of the self are explained based on knowledge viewed against a background of the individual-society as a system (ISS). Knowledge that is retained in the memory of a society, which is reflected in culture and tradition of the society, is eternal and empirical, although it undergoes additions and revision as time passes.