Can transcendence be characterised as the combination of 'taking an outside view' and 'seeing the big picture'? And is it a prerequisite for the state of being 'great-souled'?
Sibbs, broadly speaking, “transcendence” refers to anything that is greater than ourselves and a source of inspiration and/or meaning. Often, that means god, but it can be nature, if one is not religious. Or an ideal, like cosmopolitanism. Taking a view from outside (as useful as it is) is not enough, I think, but the exercise of the view from above is meant to help us transcend our immediate worries. So yes, seeing the *really* big picture, as in contemplating the vastness of space and time. (By contrast, taking an outside view often means trying to understand why another person is behaving in a certain way.)
I’m not sure that transcendence is a prerequisite to being great-souled, but it certainly helps.
Trivial nitpick, but out of curiosity, is there a reason why when you refer to an unspecific single human you prefer using, "she"? I personally have been preferring to use, "one", feels more universal in my opinion.
I prefer one also, but sometimes it doesn’t sound right, or I’ve used it too much. I occasionally use they in the plural. If I run out of options then I use she because I figured that he has had a long enough run for the past couple of millennia.
Can transcendence be characterised as the combination of 'taking an outside view' and 'seeing the big picture'? And is it a prerequisite for the state of being 'great-souled'?
Sibbs, broadly speaking, “transcendence” refers to anything that is greater than ourselves and a source of inspiration and/or meaning. Often, that means god, but it can be nature, if one is not religious. Or an ideal, like cosmopolitanism. Taking a view from outside (as useful as it is) is not enough, I think, but the exercise of the view from above is meant to help us transcend our immediate worries. So yes, seeing the *really* big picture, as in contemplating the vastness of space and time. (By contrast, taking an outside view often means trying to understand why another person is behaving in a certain way.)
I’m not sure that transcendence is a prerequisite to being great-souled, but it certainly helps.
Trivial nitpick, but out of curiosity, is there a reason why when you refer to an unspecific single human you prefer using, "she"? I personally have been preferring to use, "one", feels more universal in my opinion.
I prefer one also, but sometimes it doesn’t sound right, or I’ve used it too much. I occasionally use they in the plural. If I run out of options then I use she because I figured that he has had a long enough run for the past couple of millennia.