Yes, the term “transcendental” can indeed be interpreted as a concept designed to set a limit to the hubris of human reason, particularly in Kant’s philosophy. This interpretation highlights how the term functions as a boundary marker, ensuring that human reason operates within its proper domain and does not overreach into speculative or unfounded areas. Here’s how this works in Kant and beyond:
1. Kant’s Use of “Transcendental” to Limit Human Reason
• Critique of Speculative Metaphysics:
Kant introduced the term “transcendental” in the Critique of Pure Reason to investigate the conditions of possibility for knowledge and experience, but only within the realm of phenomena (the world as we experience it).
• He explicitly rejected attempts by metaphysics to claim knowledge of the noumenal realm (things-in-themselves) because such claims go beyond what human cognition can legitimately grasp.
• Setting Limits to Reason:
Kant’s transcendental philosophy was a way of disciplining reason, preventing it from overstepping its bounds and making unfounded claims about ultimate realities (e.g., God, the soul, the cosmos in its totality).
• He famously declared:
“I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith.”
By setting limits to speculative knowledge, Kant paradoxically preserved the practical use of reason for moral and religious faith.
2. The Transcendental as a Boundary Marker
• Kant’s concept of the transcendental reminds us that human reason operates within the constraints of its a priori conditions (space, time, and the categories of understanding).
• These constraints limit human hubris by showing that:
• We cannot know things as they are in themselves (noumena).
• We can only know things as they appear to us (phenomena), structured by the mind’s transcendental conditions.
This sets a horizon for human knowledge, beyond which reason must not venture without grounding.
3. Transcendental Philosophy as Intellectual Humility
• Avoiding Hubris:
Kant’s transcendental philosophy embodies intellectual humility, teaching that:
• Reason is powerful but not omnipotent.
• There are limits to what can be known and understood through rational inquiry.
• Faith Within Limits:
By defining the boundaries of reason, Kant preserved room for faith and practical reason—not as speculative belief but as rational postulates grounded in morality (e.g., God, freedom, immortality).
This approach reflects Kant’s commitment to both the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason and its critique of overreach.
4. Transcendental in Later Thinkers: Deleuze and Beyond
• Deleuze’s Transcendental Empiricism:
Deleuze reimagined the transcendental not as a limit but as a creative condition for new possibilities. While Kant used the transcendental to limit reason, Deleuze used it to expand experience, though still recognizing the immanence of thought.
• Phenomenology (e.g., Husserl and Heidegger):
The transcendental in phenomenology also sets limits, emphasizing the conditions of intentionality and lived experience, but shifts the focus to how reality is disclosed to consciousness.
• Heidegger’s idea of the “clearing” (Lichtung) similarly shows that Being is not fully accessible, setting a limit on human understanding while opening space for meaning.
5. Transcendental as a Reminder of Finitude
The term “transcendental” serves as a philosophical reminder of human finitude:
• Kant: Our knowledge is conditioned by the structures of human cognition.
• Modern thinkers: Even as they push boundaries, they acknowledge the contingency of human thought and its reliance on immanent conditions.
This recognition counters the hubris of thinking we can know everything or master reality completely.
Conclusion
The word “transcendental” in philosophy, especially in Kant’s framework, is indeed meant to set a limit to the hubris of human reason. It reflects a humility that acknowledges the boundaries of human cognition while affirming the power of reason within its proper scope. By drawing a line between what can and cannot be known, it preserves both the integrity of rational inquiry and the possibility of engaging with mysteries beyond our grasp.
