Logos of Life

The acculturalization of humanities from the late 1980ies onwards led not only to imagined different worlds (e.g. West / Islam), postmodernity overshadowed also common grounds of world`s philosophies. Christianity and Islam share far more than what might separate them, and we find Islam in „the West “as Christianity „in the East“. The Logos of Life Philosophy as developed by Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka (1923-2014) strives towards deciphering the deep layers of philosophy and its common grounds. Tracing back to Gnostic, Platonic (neo-platonic) and Islamic shaped philosophies - Ikhwan as-Safa will serve as an example - the Logos of Life / Aql Al-Kulli (universal reason) will be historicized in the following while introducing approaches towards a New Enlightenment (A.-T. Tymieniecka) as an alternative to the current crisis in meta-sciences

This study explores the analogy between Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Transcendentalism and his mystical experience through a phenomenological lens, emphasizing cross-cultural cognitive dimensions and their impact on the concept of universality. The research addresses the contemporary relevance of this analogy in an era marked by scientific advancements that, while clarifying many misconceptions, fail to provide existential reassurance or answer all human inquiries. This reflective inquiry seeks to understand reality and the rational linkage of events by engaging with life’s forces, which are integral to human wonderment. The methodology involves a comparative analysis of Emerson’s themes of intuition, light and knowledge alongside Tymieniecka’s Phenomenology of Life. The study does not aim to offer practical solutions but rather provides a philosophical account of intuition’s role in human experience, addressing fundamental challenges at their core. The findings suggest that Emerson’s mystical experiences, when analyzed through his themes of light, intuition and knowledge, align with phenomenological signification on an intuitive basis. Emerson’s Transcendentalism reflects life’s ontopoietic dynamism, perceiving universal structures akin to eidetic intuition essential for mental functionality. This study underscores the philosophical potential inherent in merging transcendental thought with phenomenological inquiry, offering new insights into understanding universality across literary contexts.