Intersubjectivity

Intersubjectivity

• It is the condition of man, a subject, among other men, who are also subjects.

• It refers to the shared awareness and understanding among persons.

• It is made possible by the awareness of the self and the other.

Martin Buber

• An Austrian-born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue.

• "The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings."

• "Love is responsibility of an I for a Thou: in this consists what cannot consist in any feeling the equality of all lovers."

• Love does not cling to the "I" in such a way as to have the Thou only for its "content", its object; but love is between "I" and "Thou"."

Social

It refers to the life of a group bound together by common experiences and reactions.

Interhuman

It refers to the life between and among persons; it refers to the interpersonal, that is, a life of dialogue.

Dialogue

• It is a deep and genuine relationship between persons.

• It happens when two persons truly acknowledge each other's presence and treat each other as equals.

Ich-Es (I-It) Relationship

• It refers to the world of experience and sensation where there are objects.

• The beings do not actually meet. Instead, the "I" confronts and qualifies an idea, or conceptualization, of the being in its presence and treats that being as an object.

• An individual treats other things, people, etc., as objects to be used and experienced.

• Essentially, this form of objectivity relates to the world in terms of the self - how an object can serve the individual's interest.

• It is in fact a relationship with oneself; it is not a dialogue, but a monologue.

Ich-Du (I-Thou) Relationship

• It refers to the world of encounters and relationships where there are persons.

• It is a concrete encounter without any qualification or objectification of one another.

• It is a dialogue.

Obstacles to Dialogue

• Seeming

• Speechifying

• Imposition

Contrased With

• Being

• Personal Making Present

• Unfolding

Seeming

• It is a way of approaching the other governed by the image one desires to impress on the other.

• It involves deliberately playing up or hiding aspects of yourself to appear more desirable or impressive.

Being

• It proceeds not from an image, but from what one really is.

• It is an acceptance of the other in the way that it is also an acceptance of the self as it is.

Speechifying

• It refers to one's talking past another.

• It is hearing without listening to what one says.

Personal Making Present

It is the process of fully opening oneself to the other.

Imposition

• It constitutes holding one's own opinion, values, attitudes and oneself without regard for those of another.

• It is telling the other how he or she should act, behave and respond to things.

Unfolding

• It constitutes finding in the other the disposition toward what one recognizes as true, good and beautiful.

• It involves seeing the other as a unique, singular individual capable of freely actualizing himself/herself.

Tendencies that make Dialogue and Personal Making Present Difficult

• Analytical Thinking

• Reductive Thinking

• Derivational Thinking

Analytical Thinking

It is when we break person into parts.

Reductive Thinking

It is when we reduce the richness of a person to a schema, a structure, and/or a concept.

Derivational Thinking

It is when we derive the person from a mixed formula.

The Art of Loving (Fromm, 1956)

• We give more importance to being loved that to loving.

• People think that to love is easy and what is difficult is to find the right person to love or be loved by.

• We confuse the initial falling-in-love with the permanent state of being-in-love.

Dr. Manuel Dy, Jr.

“The experience of love begins from the experience of loneliness.”

Loneliness

It is one of the most basic experiences of the human being because of self-awareness.

Ways by which people address loneliness

• Escapism

• Conformity with groups

• Creative and productive work or activity

Escapism

Use of drugs, rituals, sex, and alcohol to find one's self.

Conformity with groups

Joining group, organization, club or fraternity.

Creative and productive work or activity

Planning, producing and seeing the result of a hobby, pastime or passion.

Essential Characteristics of Love

• Love is Historical

• Love is Total

• Love is Eternal

• Love is Sacred

Love is Historical

It is because the other is a concrete particular person with his/her own being history.

Love is Total

It is because persons are indivisible.

Love is Eternal

It is because love is not given only for a limited period of time.

Love is Sacred

It is because in love, persons are valuable in themselves.