To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: transcendence and immanence
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 08:48:48 -0500
The transcendent God is the intangible, abstract God -- the God that is
without us; the immanent God is within us, manifested in the physical world.
I think one of Percy's points is that separately they're not good, they must
be integrated. Like in Love in the Ruins, when his lapsometer reads
angelism-bestialism. I think there's a parallel there. He has that theme
throughout all his works; as early as the Moviegoer he compares "the
romantic" stranger he meets on the bus with the salesman he meets on the
same bus -- I think he's dealing with this issue/theme throughout his works.
My question is: how does his concept of the "romantic" relate to his
concept "angelism" relate to his concept of "transcendence"? Are they
equivalent and interchangeable terms or do they shift in meaning?
Another question I've been wanting to ask: What is a "moviegoer"? Is that
the same thing as a "romantic"?
Also, btw, I found the term "Schaddenfreud" twice in "The Last Gentleman,"
though the concept is throughout his works. I'm reading Lancelot now, and
the hurricane is coming!
-----Original Message-----
From: rflynn AT GUILFORD.EDU [mailto:rflynn AT GUILFORD.EDU]
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 4:16 PM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: [percy-l] Re: transcendence and immanence
I was wondering if anyone could elucidate the terms "transcendence" and
"immanence." I'm writing an undergaduate Honor's thesis on Percy and one of
my chapters is on Lost in the Cosmos. I know that these two terms are used
by Catholics to describe our two-fold relationship with God. How does this
relate to Percy's use of them in Lost in the Cosmos? Percy's use of them
seems slightly denigrating. If anyone knows of any articles that deal with
this, I would love to know what they are.