Philosophical foundations of transcendence: Philosophy as a possibility and experience of transcendence in Plato

This thesis examines Plato's conception of philosophy as the possibility and experience of transcendence. A significant coherence exists between Plato's letters and dialogues, revealing radical differences between his understanding of philosophy and our contemporary understanding of philosophy. In Plato's system, there is a substantial background and critique of Parmenides, foundational to his philosophical framework. This thesis aims to explore the relationship between Plato and Parmenides by considering these aspects. I argue that love (erôs), central to Plato's philosophy, is transcendent (daimôn) according to Plato and that philosophy, identified with love, seeks transcendence as a practice that liberates the soul (psuchê) from its ontological, epistemological, aesthetical and ethical constraints. Consequently, dialectics, as an embodiment of human wisdom, serves to unify the noun/agent and verb/action or, in general terms, theôria, logia, and praxis. Furthermore, I briefly examine the concept of cosmos and emphasize the notion of khôra in relation to transcendence within the context of philosophy. Lastly, I present a study on the philosophy of mind, drawing from recent studies by Prof. Dr. Yalçın Koç, with reference to the notion of transcendence—one of the central themes of his system.