On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent
I exist in the universe in a unique manner. I seem to know this statement to be true. However, even if I did not exist, the human who happens to be me could be living and writing the same statement. Then, do I really know that the statement is true? Do I really have epistemic contact with my existen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/12/1497 |
| _version_ | 1797379525842042880 |
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| author | Shogo Shimizu |
| author_facet | Shogo Shimizu |
| author_sort | Shogo Shimizu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | I exist in the universe in a unique manner. I seem to know this statement to be true. However, even if I did not exist, the human who happens to be me could be living and writing the same statement. Then, do I really know that the statement is true? Do I really have epistemic contact with my existence? The aim of paper is to clearly raise this question and to offer a positive answer. By drawing on the disjunctive theory of perception, I propose the account that my existence can be involved in experience. To consider how my existence can be involved in experience and can be known from within experience, I refer to Wittgenstein, Kuki Shūzō, and Nishida Kitarō, and present the panentheistic view that my actual existence can be a limit of experience, both transcendent of and immanent in experience. This view is made persuasive by understanding the transcendence and immanence of my existence as adverbial. My conclusion is that I do know with certainty that I exist in the universe in a unique manner, and that this knowledge lies beyond Cartesian certainty. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:24:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e621bb7787a44a6885624fe43bbfb220 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:24:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-e621bb7787a44a6885624fe43bbfb2202023-12-22T14:38:34ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-12-011412149710.3390/rel14121497On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/ImmanentShogo Shimizu0Department of Philosophy, Sophia University, Tokyo 102-8554, JapanI exist in the universe in a unique manner. I seem to know this statement to be true. However, even if I did not exist, the human who happens to be me could be living and writing the same statement. Then, do I really know that the statement is true? Do I really have epistemic contact with my existence? The aim of paper is to clearly raise this question and to offer a positive answer. By drawing on the disjunctive theory of perception, I propose the account that my existence can be involved in experience. To consider how my existence can be involved in experience and can be known from within experience, I refer to Wittgenstein, Kuki Shūzō, and Nishida Kitarō, and present the panentheistic view that my actual existence can be a limit of experience, both transcendent of and immanent in experience. This view is made persuasive by understanding the transcendence and immanence of my existence as adverbial. My conclusion is that I do know with certainty that I exist in the universe in a unique manner, and that this knowledge lies beyond Cartesian certainty.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/12/1497selfexperiencedisjunctivismpanentheismtranscendenceimmanence |
| spellingShingle | Shogo Shimizu On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent Religions self experience disjunctivism panentheism transcendence immanence |
| title | On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent |
| title_full | On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent |
| title_fullStr | On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent |
| title_short | On the Knowledge of My Existence: Towards My Existence as the Adverbial Transcendent/Immanent |
| title_sort | on the knowledge of my existence towards my existence as the adverbial transcendent immanent |
| topic | self experience disjunctivism panentheism transcendence immanence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/12/1497 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shogoshimizu ontheknowledgeofmyexistencetowardsmyexistenceastheadverbialtranscendentimmanent |