Saturday, April 23, 2016

Superliminal and Species

A widely-held, rarely challenged thesis is that the individual human can transcend the species in at least some respect, e. g. the concept of a Soul that can be saved from a curse of 'original sin', Spinoza's concept of a Mode that can have an immediate relation with God/Nature, etc.  But, that thesis is implicitly challenged by Darwinism, according to which an Individual is a part of a Species, and, hence, can in no way be independent of it.  Now, because ordinary Perception is a product of the senses, it is within the experience of an Individual.  Hence, any Species-principle is Superliminal, i. e. because it absolutely surpasses the Individual.  So, for example, Kant's 'Sublime' is Superliminal, since its ultimate object is Reason, his Species-principle.  Likewise, Nietzsche's Dionysian is his Species-principle, and, hence, too, is Superliminal, but it can be directly engaged in singing and dancing.

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