Skip to main content
Log in

‘I Am That I Am’: Being as Absolute Subject

  • Published:
Sophia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article proposes a new interpretation of the ontological significance of the Biblical statement ‘I am that I am’ that focuses on the relationship between the Heideggerian notion of the being that is beyond all entities and the German Idealist concern with the irreducibility of subjectivity. This focus is put forward as an effective way of philosophically elaborating what are argued to be the twin aspects of the statement—the being that transcends predication, and an irreducibly first person ontology. This elaboration is performed by discussing the way in which these two themes have been approached at certain pertinent points in the history of metaphysics. With regard to the theme of transcendent being, an overview of the medieval Scholastic debates on the issue precedes a direct discussion of the Heideggerian position. As for the theme of the irreducibility of first person ontology, an overview of the relevant theories of the various German Idealist philosophers precedes a direct engagement with what Heidegger has to say on this issue. The overall argument here is that it is possible coherently to conceive of the pure being that transcends all entities in terms of the ‘I’ of an absolute subject without eliding the difference between being and entities, without succumbing to what Heidegger regards as an onto-theological oblivion of being.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anselm. (2001). Proslogion: with the replies of Gaunilo and Anselm (trans: Williams, T.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aquinas, T. (2006). The Treatise on the Divine Nature: Summa Theologiae I 1–13 (trans: Shanley, O. P.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle. (2004). Posterior Analytics (trans: Mure, G. R. G.). Whitefish, MT: Kessinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duns Scotus, J. (1987). Philosophical Writings (trans: Wolter, A.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duns Scotus, J. (1994). Six Questions on Individuation from His Ordinatio II. D. 3, part 1, qq. 1–6 (trans: Spade, P. V.). In Five Texts on the Medieval Problem of Universals, ed. Spade P. V. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckhart, M. (1981). Sermons (trans: Colledge, E. and McGinn, B.). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckhart, M. (1986). Commentary on Exodus (trans: McGinn, B.). In B. McGinn (Ed.), Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fichte, J. G. (1982). The Science of Knowledge (trans: Heath, P. and Lachs, J.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gowan, D. E. (1994). Theology in Exodus: Biblical Theology in the Form of a Commentary. Louiseville: Westminster John Knox Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegel, G. W. F. (1977). Phenomenology of Spirit (trans. Miller, A. V.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegel, G. W. F. (1989). Science of Logic (trans. Miller, A. V.). Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegel, G. W. F. (1991). The Encyclopedia Logic: Part I of the Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences (trans. Geraets, T. F., Suchting, W. A. and Harris, H. S.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegel, G. W. F. (1998). Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion: Volume III: The Consummate Religion (trans. Brown, R. F., Hodgson, P. C. and Stewart, J. M.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (1978). Being and Time (trans. Macquarrie, J. and Robinson, E.). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (1993). What Is Metaphysics? (trans. Krell, D. F.). In D. F. Krell (Ed.), Martin Heidegger: Basic Writings. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (1999). Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning) (trans: Emad, P. and Maly, K.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (2000). Introduction to Metaphysics (trans: Fried, G. and Polt, R.). New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (2003). The End of Philosophy (trans: Stambaugh, J.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry of Ghent. (2006). Henry of Ghent’s Summa: the questions on God’s unity and simplicity (articles 25–30) (trans. Teske, R. J.). Leuven: Peeters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kant, I. (1993). Critique of Pure Reason (trans. Meiklejohn, J. M. D. and Politis, V.). London: Everyman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schelling, F. W. J. (1997). On the nature of philosophy as science (trans: Weigelt, M.). In R. Bubner (Ed.), German Idealist Philosophy. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, J. R. (1992). The Rediscovery of the Mind. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Riet, S. (Ed.). (1992). Avicenna Latinus: Liber Primus Naturalium: Tractatus Primus: De Causis et Principiis Naturalium. Lieden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Skempton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Skempton, S. ‘I Am That I Am’: Being as Absolute Subject. SOPHIA 53, 497–513 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-013-0395-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-013-0395-8

Keywords

Navigation