294 ESSAYS OF A BIOLOGIST 



transcends normal experience ; things of everyday 

 life become surcharged with new, transcendent values ; 

 he has transcended from a plane of disharmony to 

 one of harmony. But the mystic is not alone in 

 this. Familiar examples are best examples : and the 

 transcendence of the lover's experience is so familiar 

 that all mankind is divided into those who have 

 it, those who long for it, and those who laugh 

 at it. But the great philosopher too must mediate 

 between the transcendent and mankind, and the 

 true artist also, and the moralist worthy of the 

 name. 



What goes under this technical name of transcend- 

 ence, therefore, is the product of some special psy- 

 chological mechanism which may be at work in the 

 most diverse spheres. If we wish to substitute one 

 technical phrase for another, we can say that it con- 

 sists in the successful attachment of what we have 

 called absolute value to some human activity, so as 

 to make it for the time at least unitary, dominant, 

 and all-embracing. But psychologically speaking the 

 genesis of ' absolute values ' depends upon the general- 

 izing of particular values ; the raising of them to the 

 highest possible pitch ; and the putting of them and 

 the rest of the mental organization into a relation 

 in which they are permanently or temporarily the 

 dominating head and front, and are connected with 

 and gain strength and support from all the rest of 

 the mind. 



