Transcendent vs. Immanent
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Immanent
Immanence refers to those philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence in which the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheistic, pandeistic, or panentheistic faiths to suggest that the spiritual world permeates the mundane. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world.
Major faiths commonly devote significant philosophical efforts to explaining the relationship between immanence and transcendence but do so in different ways, such as:
casting immanence as a characteristic of a transcendent god (common in Abrahamic religions),
subsuming immanent personal gods in a greater transcendent being (such as with Brahman in Hinduism), or
approaching the question of transcendence as something which can only be answered through an appraisal of immanence.
Transcendent (adjective)
surpassing usual limits
Transcendent (adjective)
supreme in excellence
Transcendent (adjective)
beyond the range of usual perception
Transcendent (adjective)
free from constraints of the material world
Transcendent (noun)
That which surpasses or is supereminent; something excellent.
Immanent (adjective)
Naturally part of something; existing throughout and within something; intrinsic
Immanent (adjective)
Restricted entirely to the mind or a given domain; internal; subjective.
Immanent (adjective)
Existing within and throughout the mind and the world; dwelling within and throughout all things, all time, etc. Compare transcendent.
Immanent (adjective)
Taking place entirely within the mind of the subject and having no effect outside of it. Compare emanant, transeunt.
Immanent (adjective)
Being within the limits of experience or knowledge.
Transcendent (adjective)
beyond or above the range of normal or physical human experience
"the search for a transcendent level of knowledge"
Transcendent (adjective)
surpassing the ordinary; exceptional
"her transcendent beauty"
Transcendent (adjective)
(of God) existing apart from and not subject to the limitations of the material universe.
Transcendent (adjective)
(in scholastic philosophy) higher than or not included in any of Aristotle's ten categories.
Transcendent (adjective)
(in Kantian philosophy) not realizable in experience.
Immanent (adjective)
existing or operating within; inherent
"the protection of liberties is immanent in constitutional arrangements"
Immanent (adjective)
(of God) permanently pervading and sustaining the universe.
Transcendent (adjective)
Very excellent; superior or supreme in excellence; surpassing others; as, transcendent worth; transcendent valor.
Transcendent (adjective)
Transcending, or reaching beyond, the limits of human knowledge; - applied to affirmations and speculations concerning what lies beyond the reach of the human intellect.
Transcendent (noun)
That which surpasses or is supereminent; that which is very excellent.
Immanent (adjective)
Remaining within; inherent; indwelling; abiding; intrinsic; internal or subjective; hence, limited in activity, agency, or effect, to the subject or associated acts; - opposed to emanant, transitory, transitive, or objective.
Transcendent (adjective)
beyond and outside the ordinary range of human experience or understanding;
"philosophers...often explicitly reject the notion of any transcendent reality beyond thought...and claim to be concerned only with thought itself..."
"the unknowable mysteries of lifer"
Transcendent (adjective)
exceeding or surpassing usual limits especially in excellence
Immanent (adjective)
of a mental act performed entirely within the mind;
"a cognition is an immanent act of mind"
Immanent (adjective)
of qualities that are spread throughout something;
"ambition is immanent in human nature"
"we think of God as immanent in nature"
