Absolute (philosophy)
In philosophy, the absolute, in most common usage, is an absolute perfect, self-sufficient reality that depends upon nothing external to itself. In theology, the term is also used to designate the supreme being or God. While the notion of the absolute varies across traditions and thinkers, it generally signifies something that transcends all forms of limitation, relativity, and contingency.
Meanings
The term "absolute" is derived from the Latin word absolutus, meaning "set free, detached, or unrestricted." In philosophical discourse, it refers to something that is unconditioned, independent, and ultimate. It suggests a reality that is beyond all forms of relativity and remains complete in and of itself.- Absolute as Perfection: The absolute is often conceived as a state of perfect being or existence.
- Absolute as Self-Sufficiency: It is entirely self-contained, requiring no external cause or condition.
- Absolute as Ultimate Reality: It is often equated with the ultimate ground of existence or the highest metaphysical principle.
Indian religions
The concept of the Absolute has been used to interpret the early texts of the Indian religions such as those attributed to Yajnavalkya, Nagarjuna and Adi Shankara.In Hinduism, the concept of the Absolute is most closely associated with Brahman, the ultimate, formless, and unchanging reality. Adi Shankara, the proponent of Advaita Vedanta, taught that the individual soul is ultimately identical with the universal Brahman. The world of plurality is maya —an illusion that veils the true, non-dual reality.
According to Takeshi Umehara, some ancient texts of Buddhism state that the "truly Absolute and the truly Free must be nothingness", the "void". Yet, the early Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna, Paul Williams, states that it does not present "emptiness" as some kind of Absolute; rather, it is "the very absence of inherent existence" in Mādhyamaka school of the Buddhist philosophy.
Jain philosophy introduces the idea of Anekantavada, which posits that no single viewpoint can capture the entirety of truth and that all statements about reality are conditional and relative.
Mysticism
In mystical traditions across cultures, the Absolute is often experienced as an ineffable, transcendental reality beyond the grasp of the human intellect. Mystics describe their encounter with the Absolute as a state of union or oneness with the divine or ultimate reality.In Sufism, the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud proposed by Ibn Arabi suggests that all existence is ultimately one, with God being the sole reality. The world is seen as a reflection or manifestation of God, and mystical realization involves dissolving the ego to merge with the Absolute. Similarly, in Christian mysticism, figures like Meister Eckhart describe the experience of divine union where the soul becomes one with God, transcending individual existence.
In Hindu mysticism, the state of samadhi in yoga or the realization of nirvikalpa samadhi is described as a direct encounter with Brahman, the Absolute. In Buddhist mysticism, particularly in Zen Buddhism, the experience of satori or kenshō is considered a glimpse of the Absolute, where dualities dissolve, and the individual recognizes the true nature of reality.
G. W. F. Hegel
Hegel used the term das Absolute in his German literary works.Contrary to some popular accounts, the term is not specific to Hegel. It first occurs in the work of Nicholas of Cusa, and Hegel's own usage was developed in response to that of his contemporary Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.
Hegel's use of "absolute" is easily misunderstood. Michael Inwood, however, clarifies: derived from the Latin absolutus, it means "not dependent on, conditional on, relative to or restricted by anything else; self-contained, perfect, complete." In the words of scholar Allegra de Laurentiis, this means that absolute knowing can only denote "an 'absolute relation' in which the ground of experience and the experiencing agent are one and the same: the object known is explicitly the subject who knows." That is, the only "thing" that is truly absolute is that which is entirely self-conditioned, and according to Hegel, this only occurs when spirit takes itself up as its own object. In some respects, this view of Hegel was anticipated by Johann Gottlieb Fichte's theory of the absolute self. The final section of Hegel's Philosophy of Spirit presents the three modes of such absolute knowing: art, religion, and philosophy.
For Hegel, as understood by Martin Heidegger, the absolute is "spirit, that which is present to itself in the certainty of unconditional self-knowing". As Hegel is understood by Frederick Copleston, "ogic studies the absolute 'in itself'; the philosophy of nature studies the absolute 'for itself'; and the philosophy of spirit studies the absolute 'in and for itself'."
In British philosophy, F. H. Bradley distinguishes the concept of absolute from God, whereas Josiah Royce, a neo-Hegelian and founder of the American idealism school of philosophy, has equated them.