St. Vincent School of Theology
Allaine Joseph P. Manuzon Prof. Marlon De Luna
Phenomenology and Existentialism

“Transcendence” From the perspective of a “common” watcher or cinema goer, the title is somewhat hard to digest knowing its metaphysical meaning and origin. But to look closely in it superficial level, one audience or viewer would conclude that the movie, Transcendence, is about technology and how devastating it would be to human race if not regulate its usage and functions. On the other hand, looking in its deeper level, we can say that the movie is about finding treatment to all the sickness, diseases and problems in the world. The flow of my paper would be First, using the lens of Heidegger in discussing the film and some scenes in it. Second, using the ideas of Sartre, particularly facticity, transcendence and bad faith, in analyzing the movie and lastly, combining the thoughts of Heidegger and Sartre. I. Heidegger A. “The being of Dasein means ahead-of-itself-already-in (the-world) as being-alongside (entities encountered within-the-world)”

This notion of Heidegger is clearly seen in the first part of movie. As we can see, the pattern of the movie is that Max, from the present state, somewhat rekindle everything (and the story starts) from the start until the couple died, back to the present again and somewhat gives a glimpse of the future. Although the pattern use by Heidegger is ordered as future, past and present, the pattern in the movie is present, past, present and future. This would be the plot of the movie as the director and the writers intended to do; yet in a deeper analysis, we can see also the care structure of Heidegger. In the middle of the story, Max has his “projection”, to use the term of Heidegger, of what will happen if the proposal of Evelyn, to put Will’s consciousness into a computer, would result into. Heidegger calls it A-head-of-itself (future). Already-in-the-world or the thrownness is seen when Max, although already know what will possibly happen when they continue to upload the consciousness of Will, still continue to perform the experiment. He is “thrown” in that situation wherein he cannot undo his decision because it is already done. And Lastly, Being-Alongside (entities encountered within-the-world), in this part, in my own analysis and understanding, is that when Max joined the R.I.F.T movement. This movement is the one whom Max, Will and Evelyn have some disputes which extends even to the extremes- death of peoples involve. Though, they have their own misunderstandings and some disagreement- Max joined the group and he works along side with them to solve the situation where he himself has his own participation.

We say that “Da Sein is essentially futural”. It is geared towards the future. I don’t know if the director or the writters of the movie are conscious about this, about the theme song of the couple Dr. Casters. It goes like this “the time has come to us to pause and think of living as it was into the future we must cross must cross (Jorma Kaukenen's Genesis)”. My own analysis of this song is that it shows how the Casters portrayed their futural personality and try to put it into reality by doing their experiments- into the future we must cross must cross. Same goes with their symposium entitled “Evolve the Future”.

B. “Heidegger says that death, understood as being-toward-death, is Dasein’s “ownmost, non-relational possibility”, which “is not to be outstripped” (BT: §53)”.
As I have stated above, the underlying theme of the movie is to build a utopian world. A world where in we “conquer our most intractable challenges. Not merely to cure disease but to end poverty and hunger, to heal the planet and build a better future for all of us”, this is from the speech of Evelyn, and to put it bluntly, to eradicate death.
This kind of thinking would oppose this. For Heidegger, the notion of immortality would mean that man wouldn’t see“a more sober and serious outlook on its existence.” We can see it in the life of Will. He lives his almost his lifetime in a laboratory and almost forgotten to live life. He thinks, as if, he will not die because of his inventions. This kind of thinking, as Heidegger would refer is “tranquilizing”. (Heidegger refers to everyday existence as “tranquillizing”, and the particular way in which it is so is by shielding us from our mortality). II. Sartre- Facticity, Transcendence and Bad faith A. “Human existence is a blend of the two, a combination of what Sartre calls “facticity” and “transcendence”. Facticity refers to the ways in which human existence always has some measure of objective determination and accumulated history, and “transcendence” registers the ways in which human existence is always not fully determined, and so “ahead of itself ”. As the movie suggests, Will Caster has only a month to live his life because of the bullet with a radiation poisoning as its effect. Thus, no treatment available for him. And that’s his facticity. But though his invention, the AI, he is healed. What I mean is that his body is dead yet his consciousness is alive and in a more perfect condition. And that’s transcendence. He overcome his sickness (facticity) by uploading his consciousness with at stake of his physical death (transcendence). Bad faith comes in. Bad faith is that when one regards himself as pure facticity or as pure transcendence. In Will’s case, he was now pure transcendence because what has been done to him by his wife. Another case would be of the Revolutionary Independence From Technology also know R.I.F.T. This movement wants to go back to the conventional way. Let me use the statement of Agent Buchanan in giving description to this group, “people texting instead of talking to each other. Social media as invasion of privacy…” This group now is pure facticity. They don’t want new inventions, new technologies. They just want the orthodox way of life decades ago. And this is a bad faith. As we can see in the movie, the two extremes are present. But towards the end, the bad faith of Will Caster is somewhat purified since he died together with his wife. He accepts his fate that his time has come. But regarding the movement, the director doesn’t give any ideas regarding them after the incident. III. Heidegger Plus Sartre “Anxiety thus serves as a kind of “wake-up call” to Dasein to confront its own existence, to acknowledge its inherent capacity to choose, and so take responsibility for, the shape of its own existence.” Anxiety enters Wills consciousness when he discovered that he is about to die. This feeling of angst gives him his “wake-up-call” regarding his life. He realized that he hasn’t live life. He became “inauthentic” with his life. He “fails to own itself, and so fails to face up to its own existence as an issue for it.” But good for him, he embraces his anxiety, he embraces this wake up call, his facticity and transcends it. Now the problem appears- bad faith. He becomes fully transcendent. He forgot that “mortality is one’s “ownmost” possibility because he/she cannot give it up, hand it off , or let it go, in the way he/she might with other possibilities he/she might project myself in terms of.” And as an ending to the movie, he to “take responsibility for the ways in which it projects itself onto possibilities, is a being that has full possession of itself; self-ownership and self-determination go hand in hand” by uploading his wife, Evelyn Caster, having a virus in her body.