"There are all kinds of contradictions in Apel's approach. He tries to include into his transcendantalism social data, which is simply not possible because social data presuppose a plurality of human beings, while the term "transcendental" refers to givens which a single individual possesses all by himself prior to all experiences."

source:

Richard Kiminster: Editor's introduction, in: Norbert Elias: The Symbol Theory, London/UK etc. 1991: Sage, p. xxii, footnote 6