Apodicticity: The Problem of Absolute Certainty in,Transpersonal Ethnology

This article introduces and evaluates the problem of apodicticity raised by Edmund Husserl, that is, the problem of how to access and interpret scientifically the quality of absolute necessity and certainty of insight that frequently accompanies transpersonal experiences and intuitions in contemplation. An important distinction is drawn between pure and relative apodicticity, and the common co‐occurrence of apodicticity and categorical fuzziness is examined. The analysis suggests that the sense of pure apodicticty that accompanies direct transpersonal experience and contemplative insights "spills over" into symbolic and rational reflections upon, and discursive descriptions of, such experience. The ethnological repercussions of the experience of pure apodicticity are explored.