beyond? horizon, immanence, and transcendencefrom how we do. That there is a horizon to our seeing and understanding
has to do with this. Our horizon can change — because we are ourselves
implied in our ways of seeing others and the world. What we experience
can affect us in ways that make us see differently, and yet, we are the
ones seeing. We do not just decide to see differently from how we
actually see, just as we do not move our own horizon.
In which sense then is our horizon ours? We are the ones to experi-
ence what comes up. We might be surprised or overwhelmed by what
we encounter. If our horizon is defined as a horizon of expectations,
what comes up might be unexpected. And it might change the way we
see things coming up within our horizon. That is, it might change our
horizon. Our horizon then is itself at stake within our horizon. Hori-
zon, as index of our finitude, is reflective, not in the sense that it is a
matter of reflection. Rather, we are ourselves being reflected in relat-
ing to our world. If our horizon reflects our ways of understanding the
world, it seems to be not only horizon in the sense of where something
can come up, but also how we take that which comes up.
What I have said — and in particular the claim that horizon is at
stake within our horizon — suggests that we should make a distinction
between horizon as opening a field of vision and understanding where
something can come up, and horizon as our ways of taking the world.
Let me explain:
- When we are standing on a beach looking out at the open sea, the
horizon seems to be out there. What is in between is our field of vision
or experience. When something comes up “on the horizon,” it is
within our field of vision. We can see it, yet we might not understand
what it is: we are still to see and understand. If we then take horizon
in terms of time and understanding, something not only comes up in
the field in between: something takes place. What comes up, might
affect us. It can even affect us in our ways of seeing and understanding
the world. Horizon in this first sense opens up a history in which we
ourselves can take part, and in which our ways of understanding can
be changed. We can still describe this as a field in which something
takes place that we are to see and to understand, but in seeing and
understanding we are ourselves involved in a history. - Horizon as horizon of understanding implies that we do not
simply understand what comes up. We only understand in having a