Intersubjectivity Notes

Intersubjectivity

  • Intersubjectivity involves recognizing and accepting differences in others without imposing oneself on them.

  • Authentic dialogue requires accepting others, even with differences.

Key Concepts

  • Self (I): Awareness of individuality.

  • Other (Thou/You): Individuals recognized as subjects.

  • Intersubjectivity: Encounter between "I" and "You", interchange of thoughts/feelings.

Existentialism and Phenomenology

  • Emphasize relationships, self-awareness, and transcendence.

  • The self is aware of its individuality, but also of others.

Martin Buber's Relationships

  • I-It: Monologue, relationships where individuals may be interchangeable.

  • I-Thou: Dialogue, life between persons who are non-objectifiable.

  • Obstacles to dialogue: seeming vs. being, speechifying vs. personal making present, imposition vs. unfolding.

  • I-Thou relationship involves recognizing the other, not necessarily approving.

Gabriel Marcel's Philosophy of Communion

  • Addresses dissatisfaction with objectification that suppresses human identity.

  • Subjectivity is intersubjectivity: Esseestco−esseEsse est co-esse (being is co-being).

  • Intersubjectivity means feeling the presence of others and being there for them.

Broken World

  • World is broken due to lack of human touch, over-reliance on technology.

  • Losing our true identity contributes to a broken world.

Urgent Need for Transcendence

  • The need to respond immediately and strive for a purer mode of experience.

  • Transcendence involves longing to be true to our identity as human persons.

I Am My Body

  • Initial experience is awareness of self as existing in the world.

  • "I am my body" means not treating the body as a separate instrument.

  • Self as an embodied spirit: bodily, spiritual, and conscious life are equally important.

Elements of Intersubjectivity (Gabriel Marcel)

  • Being: What makes everything possible.

  • Sensation: Ability to feel bodies and objects.

  • Presence: Experiencing union with things; feeling someone's impact.

  • Availability: Reciprocal openness between individuals; willingness to be present.

  • Fidelity: Being responsible for others and always being there for them.

Summary

  • Intersubjectivity addresses impaired human relations and promotes a philosophy of communion.