Lesson 2: Intersubjectivity

Intersubjectivity

It is the subjective experience of the world. It is the shared perception of reality among individuals.

To agree, to compare, to confirm; (agreement, comparison, confirmation)

It is the condition of a man.

Martin Buber

He is an Austrian-Israeli philosopher famous for his philosophy of dialogue. He was a Jewish existentialist philosopher. He was born in Vienna and was brough up in the Jewish tradition.

I and Thou (Ich and Du, 1923)

Martin Buber’s Book

He conceived the human person in his wholeness, totality, concrete existence, and relatedness to the world.

What did Buber conceive in his book?

Man experiences his world. Man travels over the surface of things and experiences them. he extracts knowledge about their constitution from them. He experiences what belongs to the things.

How did Martin Buber define intersubjectivity?

It is the sharing of subjective states by two or more individuals.

How did Scheff (2006) define intersubjectivity?

It is the interchange of thoughts and feelings, both conscious and unconscious, between two persons or subjects, as facilitated by empathy.

How did Edmund Husserl define intersubjectivity?

Being and Nothingness (1943)

Jean Paul Sartre’s book

It explains that when you look at a person, the act of objectification allows you to capture that person’s freedom to be what he or she wants to be. 

What does Jean Paul Sartre explain in his book?

Intersubjectivity is more than just shared understanding, but it is the capability to put oneself in the place where the other is. This happens when people put themselves in the shoes of others and studying this experience using a phenomenological attitude calls for bracketing of beliefs (phenomenological reduction)  

What did Edmund Husserl believe intersubjectivity to be?

Rene Descartes

He is an advocate of individualism. He resloved to doubt absolutely everything that could possibly be doubted—in the hope of thereby finding something that was beyond doubt.

Whatever he would find would be the basis for a new body of solid knowledge. This deeper and more genuine interaction is called dialogue. 

What did Rene Descartes believe?

He said “I” or yourself, can only be realized through recognition of others. 

What was Martin Buber’s philosophy?

I-I relationship;  I-It relationship; I-You relationship/I-thou relationship

Martin Buber’s Philosophy of Dialogue

I-I relationship

People make themselves the center of their world. Talking to other people do not interest them and if they talk to others, it is the “I” who will be the center of the conversation. They are close-minded and only participate in conversations. their aim is for the other to be transformed into his/her image— the reduction of other to “I.”

I-It relationship

There are people that more concerned about the other than themselves. However, their treatment with the other is concentrated into the status of an object. Person-to-thing; subject to object that is merely experiencing and using lacking directedness and mutuality (feeling, knowing, and acting). It includes separatedness, disconnectedness, detachment.

I-thou relationship

It is about the human person as a subject, a being different from things or from objects. This signifies a person-to-person, subject-to-subject relation or acceptance, sincerity, concern, respect, dialogue, and care. The human person is not just being-in-the-world but being-with-others, or being-

Self-awareness, Transcendence

Our ability to engage in meaningful interactions with other people, our surroundings, and everything around us is rooted in our capacity for ____ and ____. 

Other

human being, an object outside of you

The Other

human person, same being, subject

The simple awareness of the existence of the other, The awareness of the self as being seen by others

Instances where the self interacts with the other

Simple awareness of the existence of the other

It follows self-awareness which, as we already indicated, is at the beginning of any intersubjective human relationship. At the start of any intersubjective human relationship, any/each of those who are in the intersubjective human relationship was simply aware of the existence of the other. Each of them became conscious that he/she was not the only unique human person that there is.

Awareness of the self as being seen by the other

It comes next before an intersubjective human relationship is formed. Put in another way, first, the two human persons are of awareness of each other’s existence. Take note that this is merely one-way. And next, at least the self has the awareness of being seen by the other. Notice that the awareness has become two-way.

Social

It refers to a life bound together, through common experience and rejections.

Dialogue

It is a genuine relationship with others. It happens when two person truly acknowledge each other’s presence and treat each other as equals.

Ontology

 It is the study of existence.

Karol Wojtyla

He maintains that the human person is the one who exists and acts. We are oriented towards relationships. Action reveals the nature of the human agent. He criticized the traditional definition of humans as “rational animals.”

Fides et ratio

This is the encyclical letter in which Karol Wojtyla criticized the traditional definition of humans as “rational animal.”

We-relation

Participation is the ability of the person to exist and act together with others without losing oneself as he moves towards his self-fulfillment. Through participation, the person is able to fulfill one’s self.

Participation

It is the ability of the person to exist and act together with others without losing oneself as he moves towards his self-fulfillment. It explains the essence of the human person. Through this, the person is able to fulfill one’s self.