Bataille's ontological split: the subject at odds with itself

Bataille's notion of mystical experience is hardly redemptive, but rather comes as a result of the subject trying to come to terms with a basic foundational split within itself. The subject (you or I) is not assured the objective means to communicate itself. Yet one will compulsively seek knowledge to continue to try (and fail) to bridge the incommunicability of subjective experience. Mystical experience occurs with a sudden realization that one cannot achieve deep and lasting satisfaction in the communicability of personal meaning. The shattering of the subject in response to this knowledge leads to a greater depth of understanding.