Comprehensive Notes on Intersubjectivity and Martin Buber's Philosophy of Dialogue

Fundamental Definitions of Intersubjectivity

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

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

  • Basis of Possibility: Intersubjectivity is made possible by the awareness of the self and the other.

Martin Buber and the Philosophy of Dialogue

Biographical Context: Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue.

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

  • The Essence of Life:

    • "All real living is meeting."

    • "All actual life is encounter."

Categorizing Human Engagement: Social vs. Interhuman

  • The Social:

    • Refers to the life of a group bound together by common experiences and reactions.

    • Emotional impact: Men feel themselves to be carried by the collectivity, which lifts them out of loneliness, fear of the world, and lostness.

  • The Interhuman:

    • Refers to the life between and among persons.

    • It refers specifically to the interpersonal, which is defined as a life of dialogue.

The Nature of Dialogue

  • Definition: Dialogue is a deep and genuine relationship between persons.

  • Requirements for Dialogue: It occurs when two persons truly acknowledge each other's presence and treat each other as equals.

Modes of Relationship: Ich-Es and Ich-Du

  • Ich-Es (I-It) Relationship:

    • Domain: Refers to the world of experience and sensation where there are objects.

    • Nature of Interaction: 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.

    • Utility: An individual treats other things and people as objects to be used and experienced.

    • Self-Orientation: This form of objectivity relates to the world in terms of the self—specifically how an object can serve the individual’s interest.

    • Internal Character: It is a relationship with oneself; it is not a dialogue but a monologue.

  • Ich-Du (I-Thou) Relationship:

    • Domain: Refers to the world of encounters and relationships where there are persons.

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

    • Relational Character: It is a genuine dialogue.

    • Transformative Power: Buber claims, "Through the Thou a person becomes I."

Obstacles to and Facilitators of Dialogue

  • Seeming vs. Being:

    • Seeming (Obstacle): 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 oneself to appear more desirable or impressive.

    • Buber on Seeming: "To yield to seeming is man's essential cowardice, to resist it is his essential courage."

    • Being (Facilitator): Proceeds not from an image, but from what one really is. It involves the acceptance of the other in a way that is also an acceptance of the self as it is.

    • Human Confirmation: Buber notes that man wishes to be confirmed in his being by man and wishes to have a presence in the being of the other. Man watches "for a YES which allows him to be," which can only come from one human person to another.

  • Speechifying vs. Personal Making Present:

    • Speechifying (Obstacle): Refers to talking past another. It is defined as hearing without listening to what the other says.

    • Personal Making Present (Facilitator): The process of fully opening oneself to the other.

  • Imposition vs. Unfolding:

    • Imposition (Obstacle): Holding one’s own opinions, values, and attitudes without regard for those of another. It involves telling the other how he or she should act, behave, and respond.

    • Unfolding (Facilitator): 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 themselves.

Barriers to Personal Making Present

  • Tendencies that hinder dialogue:

    • Analytical Thinking: When we break a person into parts.

    • Reductive Thinking: When we reduce the richness of a person to a schema, a structure, and/or a concept.

    • Derivational Thinking: When we derive the person from a mixed formula.

The Philosophy of Love and Loneliness

  • The Root of Conflict: Buber argues, "The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow-men is that I do not say what I mean and I don't do what I say."

  • Love as Relationship:

    • "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" to have the "Thou" only as its "content" or object; rather, love exists between I and Thou.

  • Loneliness:

    • According to Dr. Manuel Dy, Jr., "The experience of love begins from the experience of loneliness."

    • Loneliness is one of the most basic human experiences resulting from self-awareness.

  • Addressing Loneliness:

    • Escapism: Using drugs, rituals, sex, and alcohol to find oneself.

    • Conformity with Groups: Joining groups, organizations, clubs, or fraternities.

    • Creative and Productive Work: Planning, producing, and seeing the results of a hobby or passion.

  • The Paradox of Self: "Sometimes you need to lose everyone to find yourself again."

The Art of Loving (Erich Fromm, 19561956)

  • Misconceptions of Love:

    • People give more importance to being loved than to loving.

    • People assume loving is easy and the difficulty lies only in finding the right person to love or be loved by.

    • Confusion between the initial "falling-in-love" and the permanent state of "being-in-love."

Essential Characteristics of Love

  • Love is Historical: The other is a concrete particular person with their own being and history.

  • Love is Total: Persons are indivisible.

  • Love is Eternal: Love is not given only for a limited period of time.

  • Love is Sacred: Persons are valuable in themselves. In Tagalog: "Hindi 'yung mahalaga ka lang dahil kailangan ka. Kailangan ka dahil mahalaga ka."

Questions & Discussion

  • Question: Why is it so hard to open up to others?

  • Question: Why do we misunderstand love as something that we fall into?

References

  • Abella, D. (20162016). Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc. pp. 93−11093 - 110

  • Calano, M.J., Pasco, M.O., and Ramoya, M.C. (20162016). Philosophizing and Being Human. Quezon City: Sibs Publishing House, Inc. pp. 97−11497 - 114