In Sartre’s version of existentialism, “transcendence-transcended” is a mode of being of the human being. For Sartre, the human being is not a mere object placed next to or over against other objects. The human being is also not determined or pre-determined in the sense of being wholly governed or already formed in its being. The human being is a transcendence, which means that it is an entity that freely and constantly is transcending itself, its being, and its situation in the world toward the future.
Sartre follows Heidegger in that he names this transcendent manner of the human being’s being ‘being-in-the-world’ and that he refers to the human being’s existence in the world among other humans as ‘being-in-the-midst-of-the-world’. For Sartre, ‘being-in-the-midst-of-the-world’ indicates that the human being is constantly and inevitably seen and judged by the Other and that the Other’s point of view disrupts and suspends one’s meanings and acts.
“Transcendence-Transcended“ as a Mode of Being
To be judged and seen by the Other, or to be subject to the Other’s point of view, means that the free transcendence of the human being is transcended by the Other’s transcendence. The moment of the appearing of the Other marks the suspension of the free transcendence of the human being. To undergo the transcendence of the Other is to become “transcendence-transcended”.
To this “transcendence-transcended”, as a way of being in the world, still remain possibilities of free deciding and authentic choosing. Yet all decisions and choices are now subject to the Other’s expectations and judgments in such a way that they now also belong to the Other’s attempts at choosing and deciding.
“Transcendence-transcended” is a way of being-for-others, in which how the human being is must pass through the Other’s judgment by being seen by the Other and confined to a thought emerging from the Other’s point of view.
“Transcendence-transcended”, as a mode of being in the world, lies at the heart of the Self/Other relation in Sartre’s existentialism. The moment of experiencing oneself as an object for the Other is the moment of experiencing the Other as a subject. This means that the Other is first revealed to, and experienced by, oneself as an Other when one experiences oneself as an object for the Other’s subjectivity.
“Transcendence-Transcended“ and the Other‘s Subjectivity
“Transcendence-transcended” thus indicates the disruption, negation, and suspension of one’s transcendent subjectivity by the Other’s transcendent subjectivity in its judging, looking at, and thinking about one’s being in the world. This being-subject-to the Other’s transcendent subjectivity is the experience of being “transcendence-transcended”.
In Being and Nothingness, “transcendence-transcended” is made concrete through the example of a spy at a keyhole. Sartre says that the spy is a free transcendence owning and wholly deciding the meaning of the choice to spy as long as there is no Other or as long as the Other is still absent. The presence of the Other immediately changes this situation because now the spy is found and seen by the Other and therefore suddenly becomes an object for the Other.
“Transcendence-transcended” thus indicates a failure to own the meaning of one’s act and decisions. It signals that one’s choices are now subject to the Other’s thoughts, decisions, judgments, and acts. The Other’s point of view, or the Other’s freedom, enslaves one’s freedom by taking one’s ownership of meaning from oneself.
“Transcendence-transcended” is not a permanent and unchangeable way of being in the world. This way of being constantly changes in the sense that the enslaved freedom can free itself by enslaving the freedom of the Other. Being an Object for the Other ends by turning the Other into an object for oneself. That is to say, “transcendence-transcended” can free itself and thus become transcendence-transcending or transcendence by leaving the Other unable to own the meaning of its acts, decisions, and choices. This is why conflict is thought to be lying at the heart of Sartre’s existentialism as a continuous struggle toward enslaving the Other by freeing oneself.