Finals Week 2 Intersubjectivity

Note on Intersubjectivity

Page 3: Introduction to Intersubjectivity

  • Human Limitations and Potential

    • Human beings face inherent limitations.

    • Development of human potentialities allows transcendence of these limitations.

    • Achieving human freedom and self-determination is essential.

  • Focus on Intersubjectivity

    • Intersubjectivity is crucial for understanding human relationships.

    • It raises epistemological and ethical questions.

    • Emphasizes the significance of recognizing others as subjects.

  • Definition of Intersubjectivity

    • Derived from Latin: "among, between, together with person."

    • Defined as sharing subjective states among individuals (Scheff, 2006).

    • Involves mutual awareness, agreement, and understanding (Mori and Hayashi, 2006; Laing, 1996).

    • Explored from various perspectives: anthropological, sociological, psychological, and philosophical.

Page 4: Philosophical Perspective of Intersubjectivity

  • Epistemological Questions

    • How do we know other minds?

    • How is reciprocity of perspectives possible?

    • How do mutual understanding and communication occur?

  • Ethical Recognition

    • Acknowledges the existence of other autonomous subjectivities.

    • Ethical relations arise from recognizing others as independent beings with their own projects.

  • Themes of Intersubjectivity in Existential Phenomenology

    1. To Exist is to Co-Exist

      • Man and the world are interconnected; isolation is not possible.

    2. My World as Our World

      • Individual actions are always related to others; existence is shared.

    3. We Exist Together

      • Encounters with others reveal them as conscious beings, not mere objects.

    4. Encounter with the Other as the Other

      • Distinction between encountering a conscious being versus a mere object.

Page 5: Otherness and The Other

  • Concept of Otherness

    • Defined as the rationalization by which dominant groups construct out-groups.

    • Power dynamics play a crucial role in the creation of otherness.

    • Examples of terms related to otherness: Ethnocentrism, Exotic, Othering, etc.

  • The Other

    • Refers to treating individuals as human beings, recognizing their subjectivity.

    • I-Thou vs. I-It Relationships (Martin Buber)

      • I-Thou: Mutual, respectful relationship.