Communication as Transcendence

Communication is the simultaneous experience of self and other. That’s what I mean by transcendence. Communication is the experience of transcending one’s (current) self, overcoming one’s (current) self, to become more than what one was through connection with another. This is a definition born of the American pragmatist tradition, and it owes much to the classical thinkers in that tradition, especially William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead, as well as contemporary pragmatist writers, notably Richard Rorty, Cornel West, and Hilary Putnam. The definition is deceptively simple; its implications are complex. Thus, I will proceed carefully, articulating each of the main terms of the definition before turning to some of the consequences of holding this definition of communication.