THE HUMAN PERSON AS

AN INTERSUBJECTIVE
BEING
LESSON 1: INTERSUBJECTIVITY

“Man is by nature a social animal;

an individual who is
unsocial…either a beast or a god.”

- Aristotle, Politics
LESSON 1: INTERSUBJECTIVITY

•Man exists and lives in a society.

•Man depends on each other for their needs.
•Therefore, Intersubjective and
Relational dimension are essential
characters of one’s existence.
 ARE WE CAPABLE OF
ESTABLISHING AUTHENTIC
RELATIONSHIP?
Is it necessary?
Are we willing?
Are others willing too?
How about its sustenance?
Is it easier to break up than to sustain?
How about the problem of dialogue?
LESSON 1: INTERSUBJECTIVITY

•The basis of one’s intersubjectivity is that,

man is not a solitary subject but existing
and capable of entering into a relation
with the “thou” or “other”.
•The world is not a private world but a
Social World.
LESSON 1:
INTERSUBJECTIVITY

•When one enters into

a relationship, he/she
SHARES with another
person something of
himself/herself.
MARTIN BUBER
GERMAN PHILOSOPHER
LESSON 1: TWO TYPES OF RELATIONS

1. The “I-IT” – it is person to

object.
2. The “I-THOU” – it is person to
person.
LESSON 1: I-THOU RELATIONSHIP

• It can be understood as Interpersonal

dimension.
• It is Person-to-Person relation.
• It is bound by personal or subjective interest.
• The relationship is more Intimate.
• It goes beyond mere social interactions or relation.
 LESSON 1: I-THOU RELATION
• The I has nothing but as a Subject.
• And the Thou is not offering anything material to
the I.
• But only, acceptance, sincerity, concern,
dialogue, and care.
• It is characterized by mutuality, directness,
presence, and intensity.
 LESSON 1: I-IT RELATION
• The I has an Object.
• Thus, the I performs utilization, manipulation,
control and domination.
• However, the I has a tendency to treat the thou
as an IT like objects, things, tools and
instruments.
• It is significant only in connection and
differentiation but NOT RELATION.
LESSON 1: CONCLUSION
• The THOU may become an IT and the IT may
become a THOU, it depends on the I.
• “And in all the seriousness of truth, without the
IT (objects) man cannot live. But he/she who
lives with the IT alone is NOT A HUMAN.”

Buber, 1953,34
LESSON 1: ON DIALOGUE

• Personal relation is referred to as a “Dialogue”

• Intersubjectivity is based on his idea that a human
is a Being-in-Relation.
• It means entering or establishing a relation with
fellow human.
• And this kind of relationship is grounded on
Dialogue.
 LESSON 1: NOTION OF DIALOGUE

• It has a deeper meaning.

• It signifies the life of relation.
• Dialogue is not limited only to a human and
fellow human.
• It happens also in a triadic fundamental relation: I,
Supreme Being and Others.
LESSON 1: 3 KINDS OF DIALOGUE

1. Technical Dialogue – objective

understanding
2. Monologue – disguised as dialogue
3. Genuine Dialogue – presence of the
other
INTERHUMAN AND ITS ELEMENTS

1.Being and Seeming

2.Personal Making Present
3.Unfolding and Imposition
 LESSON 1I: FIDELITY AND AVAILABILITY

Gabriel Marcel
A French Philosopher of
Creative Fidelity
 LESSON 2: FIDELITY AND
AVAILABILITY
• Human existence is coexistence.
• It is characterized by fidelity, presence,
hope and availability.
• To relate is not only to recognize the thou
(Buber) but to commit, be constant, faithful
and available to/for the thou (Marcel).
LESSON 2: FIDELITY AND
AVAILABILITY
• How does one become faithful
and committed?
• What is the very basis of
Fidelity?
• Is fidelity merely faithfulness
or constancy over time?
 LESSON 2: FIDELITY

•FIDELITY means
faithfulness and faithfulness is
related to commitment.
•Thus, fidelity and
commitment are often used
interchangeably.
 LESSON 2: CONSTANCY

•CONSTANCY may be understood

as perseverance or immutability.
•Perseverance means standing firm to
what has been started.
•Immutability means remaining
unchanged over time.
 LESSON 2: PRESENCE

•PRESENCE means a
combination of fidelity and
constancy.
•Thus, presence is to be
constantly present and faithful
to the Thou (other).
 LESSON 2: CREATIVE FIDELITY
•It is an essential element of one’s
commitment.
•If one commits the self, hence, one knows
the self.
•Therefore, self-knowledge exists when
one commits his/her self to the Thou.
LESSON 2: 2 ACTS
1. The first act is to commit to
the other without questioning
his/her future disposition.
2. The second act is the
response of the other person
to that commitment.
 LESSON 2: COVENANT/PROMISE

What is a PROMISE?
What is a COVENANT?
 LESSON 2: COVENANT/PROMISE
•PROMISE is being
made between person
to person.
•COVENANT is being
made between person/s
to God.
 LESSON 2: CREATIVE FIDELITY

PRESENCE
AVAILABILITY
PROMISE

LOVE
COVENANT FAITHFULNESS
• CREATIVE FIDELITY is committing to somebody
over time even if it is possible that things and personal
dispositions may change in the future.
• CREATIVE FIDELITY to availability. To be available is
to believe in the other, to place one’s self at the
disposal of the other person.
INTERSUBJECTIVITY

• It arises when one recognizes the other as somebody,

not as a something; it blossoms when one discovers the
deep and individual quality of another person.
• A genuine intersubjectivity is established when both the
I and the Thou are open to each other as persons.
 PARTICIPATION
AND COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION

• Share or part in something

• For Wojtyla, one’s experience of acting together
with other persons
• Intersubjectivity is experienced when one
participates through acting together for a
common purpose,
COMMON GOOD

• When one acts together with others for a

common purpose, s/he considers that purpose as
a good that is common to all.
• This good that is common to all is a value that all
members of the group recognize as something
that will enhance their own individual good.
COMMON GOOD IN TWO
SENSES:
• Objective – refers to the good the community,
which the goal of the common action performed
by a community or group.
• Subjective – that which conditions and initiates
the persons or members of the group to act
together or participate in the activity.
• The common good, in the subjective sense, is the
principle of correct participation that allows a
person acting together with other persons to
perform authentic actions and attain self-
fulfillment through communal actions.
NOTION OF COMMUNITY

• A community is more fundamental than a society

because a particular social group may be
considered a society by virtue of the community
of members.
• The community is the foundation of a society.
• The basis for being a community is the
participation of the personal subjects or
individual members of a group.
DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN
COMMUNITY
• Social – involves participation in the life of a social
community and is signified by the relationship of the WE.

• Interpersonal or Interhuman – involves participation in the

humanness or humanity of the other person and is
signified by the relationship I-THOU.
• REFLEXIVITY – awareness of the other and oneself
• RECIPROCITY – the I must become the THOU for
the other I and vice-versa
AUTHENTIC VS NON-
AUTHENTIC PARTICIPATION
• Solidarity – a constant readiness to accept and to
realize one’s share in the community because of
one’s membership within that particular
community.
• Genuine Opposition – one does not withdraw
his/her cooperation to act and work for the
common good when s/he voices out his/her
opposition to a general or particular rule or
action.
• Conformism – tendency to comply with the
desires of others, a tendency of being neutral
• Noninvolvement – attitude of withdrawal and
resignation
NEIGHBOR

• Being neighbors means

recognizing the humanity or
the human personhood of the
other as more than being
member of a social
community.