Intersubjectivity

Questions and Reflection

1. Is it possible to isolate yourself from other people and
things in your environment? Should you isolate or
should you genuinely relate/ interact?
2. How do you deal with the physical, racial and/ or
religious differences of people?
3. How do you connect with, treat and establish
relationships with other people particularly the poor
(and even the rich), those with physical disabilities, and
the elderly?
4. In what simple act can you make genuine dialogue or
authentic human relations possible?
WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP ARE
YOU IN?
 INTERSUBJECTIVITY
• Psychological relation between people
• Usually used in contrast to solipsistic individual
experience, emphasizing our inherently social
being
• Considered crucial not only at the relational level
but also at the epistemological and even
metaphysical levels.
 How does an individual
relate with other persons?
• Dialogue (Martin Buber) refers to a genuine
relationship between individuals. It is a deeper
level of interaction when the self realizes that the
other is a genuine and unique individual. When
two individuals truly acknowledge each other’s
presence, then it will be regarded as the beginning
of an authentic relationship and a dialogue.
THE I-THOU and “I-IT”
Relations
Martin Buber presented his
philosophy through a
dialogue, a philosophical
theory that showed a
particular quality of
interaction, where the
parties involved develop a
connection or relationship.
 I-IT RELATIONSHIP
• “I” is the subject
• “It” is a person treated
as an object
• Depicts separateness,
disconnectedness, and
detachment
• Experience- Through
experience, man collects
data of the world,
analyses, classifies, and
theorizes about them.
 I-THOU RELATIONSHIP
• “I” is the subject
• “Thou” is another subject
• It is the relationship of mutual and
reciprocal connection
• ENCOUNTER-both the “I” and the ‘other’
enter into a genuine relationship as active
participants. In this relationship, human
beings do not perceive each other as
consisting of specific, isolated qualities, but
engage in a dialogue involving each other’s
whole being and, in which, the ‘other’ is
transformed into a “Thou” or “You” (Buber,
1958, p. 8).
 REALIZE THAT INTERSUBJECTIVITY
REQUIRES ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES AND
NOT TO IMPOSE ON OTHERS
• Martin Buber and Karol Wojtyla believed in the
notion of concrete experience/existence of the
human person and also that one must not lose
sight of one’s self in concrete experience. They
did not regard the human person as a composite of
dimensions like animality and rationality.
 How do relationships
define the human person?
• Human relations shape knowledge and truth within the society
according to the constructivist theory of knowledge.
• Within society, individuals coordinate their actions and
maintain harmonious relationships to ensure order and the
general welfare.
• Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre considers human
relationships as frustrating and are often inauthentic and
ambiguous. According to him, humans tend to view others as a
means to achieve certain desires. This view gives rise to
feelings of alienation – where the individual ceases to view the
other as a distinct and authentic person, and considers him or
her as a mere object.
 How do relationships
define the human person?
• Karl Marx believes that alienation gives rise to the
exploitation of people.
• There are philosophers who have a more positive view of
human interaction and believe the humans naturally seek
and are able to achieve and maintain genuine, meaningful
interactions with each other.
• These philosophers are:
• 1. Edith Stein defines the self-other relationship as being
driven by empathy-the awareness that the other is a person
with thoughts and feelings.
 How do relationships
define the human person?
• 2. Edmund Husserl believes that intersubjectivity is
more than just shared understanding, but is the
capability to put oneself “in the place where the other
is”.
• 3. Gabriel Marcel defines genuine relationship based
on availability or the willingness of a person to be
present and be at the disposal of another.
• 4. Martin Buber considers human existence as a
continual dialogue with the other, and that the self
becomes whole through interaction with nature, with
other people, and with God.
 How do relationships
define the human person?
• Christianity believes that people help, love and
support each other by heart.
• Existentialism and phenomenology are the major
philosophical branches that devote much
discussion on the concept of interpersonal relations
(self-awareness and transcendence).
 How does an individual
relate with each other?
• All in all, human person is regarded by Philosophy
as a “being-with-others” and that seeking and
maintaining meaningful and harmonious
relationships with others is necessary for personal
development.
“It is said that man experiences his world.
What does that mean? Man travels over the
surface of things and experiences the,. He
extracts knowledge about their constitution
from them: he wins and experience from
them. He experiences what belongs to the
things.”

-Martin Buber
 ACTIVITY
• WRITE YOUR OWN REFLECTION ON THE
STATEMENT QUOTED BY MARTIN BUBER:

• “LOVE IS RESPONSIBILITY OF AN I FOR A

THOU: IN THIS CONSISTS IN ANY FEELING
– THE EQUALITY OF ALL LOVERS.”
Learning TARGETS
1. I can realize that intersubjectivity requires accepting
differences and not too imposing on others.
2. I can appreciate the talents of persons with disabilities
and those from the underprivileged sectors of society
and their contributions to society.
3. I can explain that authentic dialogue means accepting
others even if they are different from themselves.
4. I can perform activities that demonstrate the talents of
persons with disabilities and those from the
underprivileged sectors of society.
Participatory Discussion on Intersubjectivity
Opposing Views o the Topic Intersubjectivity
NO FAITH in harmonious HAVE FAITH in harmonious
intersubjective human relations intersubjective human relations

Plato Aristotle

Descartes Butler

Bentham Scheler

Hobbes Gadamer/ Habermas

Kierkegaard Buber

Nietzsche Marcel

Sartre G.H. Mead

No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
1. PLATO / Platonic Idealism
Truth is perfect and eternal, it cannot be found in the world of
matter, which is imperfect and constantly changing. The world of
ideas is the source of all true knowledge. The world of matter, the
ever-changing world of sensory data, is not to be trusted (credit
to Ozmon and Craver)

Example:
Every person you see and spend time with will someday die, but
the idea of “person” is unchanging or eternal. Thus, the physical,
living people we see in the natural world is transitory but the
concept- the idea “people” is eternal (wikipedia)
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
2. RENE’ DESCARTES’ Egocentric Approach

Solipsism

In Ontology – nothing exists except one’s own self and

the contents of its consciousness

In Epistemology- nothing can be known except one’s

own self and the contents of its
consciousness

In ethics - nothing is to be valued except one’s

own interests and pleasures
(egoism in a sense)
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
3. JEREMY BENTHAM (Utilitarianism)

“In every human breast… self-regarding interest

is predominant over social interest; each person’s own
individual interest over the interests of all other persons
taken together.”
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations

4. THOMAS HOBBES

“No man giveth but with intention of good to

himself; because gift is voluntary; and all voluntary acts
the object to every man is his own pleasure.”
Both Bentham and Hobbes show
the egoistic nature of man
EGOISM is the theory that one’s self is, or should be,
the motivation and goal of one’s action.

Descriptive or psychological egoism describes human

nature as being wholly self-centered and self-motivated.
People always act in their own interests, even though
they may disguise their motivation with references to
helping others or doing their duty.
 No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
5. Søren KIERKEGAARD /Theistic Existentialism
A. Other human being can act as absolute if:
a.1 one tries to develop a relationship with God, or
a.2 tries to realize his own individual being.
B. Everyone should be cautious of having interactions with others and that
basically conversation should take place only with God and oneself.
C. To have an authentic relation with God, one must become a “Single
One.”
D. He has very little respect for the herd sentiment or the “crowd” or the
“public.” He was opposed to collectivism and institutionalism.
E. One can realize one’s true dignity only when one is a solitary individual
F. He summons the individual to come out from the crowd and take
responsibility for his own being.
Credit to Chakravati and Roy, Indian Philosophical Quarterly, 2002
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
6. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
(Atheistic Existentialism/Humanism)
A. He uses the term “herd” to denote the different interactions
between different human beings.
B. He believes that the life of the individual is controlled by a
value-system devised by the herd, and that the herd has
replaced the prerogatives of God.
C. Hence, there could be no question of human dignity so long
as an individual is merely a part of the crowd and thus fails to
realize his true individual being.

(Credit to Chakravati and Roy,

2002)
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
7. JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
(Atheistic Existentialism/ Humanism)
A. OTHERS appear as an obstacle to the fulfilment of existence.
* As a finite being, every man wants to be God. But this
desire meets with frustration because the world is full of
many finite beings.
B. Our body plays an important role in interpersonal relationships.
Our interaction with others is possible only through our having a body.
* My body can become an object for other just as much as
his body become an object for me.
If another person looks at me, I become aware not only of his
existence as the other, but also of my own existence, as the object of
his look or gaze. This is the common experience of shame or shyness.
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
7. JEAN-PAUL SARTRE

C. It is the existence of the other which is my “original fall” It is

when the other looks at me that I feel guilty, feel alienated from
myself. I also feel guilty when I, in turn, look at the other, when the
other is constituted as an object for me and the other has to accept it.

D. That Sartre had very little faith in the possibility of harmonious

interpersonal relationships or of the role of dignity in human
interactions becomes explicit when he speaks of the “original sin” or
of the “original theme of guilt” from which there can be no escape.
He believes that the fact that I exist in a world where there
are others is what constitutes the original sin.
No Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
7. JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
E. Interpersonal relationships give rise to frustrations and
unending ambiguities. Persons interacting with one another often
oscillate between love and hate. They want to possess and be
possessed by the other.
If I do not want to become an object in the eyes of the
other, that is to say , if I want to be treated as a person, I will try
to possess the other through love. But this can happen only when
the other person too loves me, and the other can love me only if I
allow myself to become an object of the other’s love. Thus, the
relationship becomes endlessly ambigous.
(credit to Chakravarti and Roy, 2002)
Have Faith in Harmonious
Intersubjective Human Relations
1. Aristotle

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is

unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our
notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes
the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life
or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not
partake of society, is either a beast or a god” (Aristotle, Politics).
Aristotle’s 3 kinds of friendship
1. Friendship based on utility
- Where both people drive some benefit from each other.
It is easily broken and based on something that is brought to the
relationship by the other person.
Aristotle uses the example of trade and argues that
friendship of utility are often between opposite people, in order
to maximize this trade (or utility).
Aristotle’s 3 kinds of friendship
2. Friendship based on Pleasure
- where both people are drawn to the other’s wit, good
looks , or other pleasant qualities.
He says that this type of friendship is normally built
between the young as passions and pleasures are great influences
in their lives. It is characterized by such feelings as passion
between lovers, or the feeling of belonging among likeminded
group of friends.
Aristotle’s 3 kinds of friendship
3. Friendship based on Goodness
- where both people admire the other’s goodness and help
one another strive for goodness. It is where both friends enjoy
each other’s characters.
Aristotle calls it a “… complete sort of friendship
between people who are good and alike in virtue…”
This is the highest level of love (philia) often translated as
“brotherly love”. (Book VIII “The Nichomachean Ethics.
Aquileana, 2004)
Case:
If x saves y from a burning office building, what
ultimately motivated her to do this?

Psychological Egoism: All of our ultimate desires are egoistic

Psychological Attruism: Some of our ultimate desires are

altruistic

ALTRUISM- benevolent concern for the interests and welfare of

other persons
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human
2. JOSEPHRelations
BUTLER

He provides a famous argument against

Egoism in his work “The Fifteen Sermons.”

He argues that we must have a direct desire for certain

objects, other than our own satisfaction, in order to be able to
obtain satisfaction from attaining those objects.
Feinberg’s “Disinterested Benevolence”
Argument
1. Sometimes people benefit from helping others (e.g.
experience pleasure)
2. Sometimes such benefit presupposes a desire for what
generated it (e. g. food), not for the resulting benefit
3. So sometimes people desire things other than self-interest.
4. Therefore, psychological egoism is false.
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
3. MAX SCHELER (Phenomenologist)

If Sartre is the prophet of the isolated individual,

Scheler is the philosopher of “man-in-community” or
“Person-Community Reciprocity”

SCHELER Community is so essential to man that the social

dimension is a truly constitutive factor of man’s
very being. Man has a social a priori.
SARTRE His denial of the possibility of true community
between persons stemmed directly from his views
on man as arbitrary freedom, who creates both
himself and his values by his free choice.
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
4. HANS-GEORG GADAMER’S FUSION OF HORIZONS

Horizon- the subjective and experiential life-world that is

constituted by the biases, prejudices, experiences, knowledge
and emotions of any given person. It is our premise to any
interaction, conversation and understanding.

During a dialogue, or conversation or interaction, the two

person’s different horizons interact with each other, and modify
each other. This is what Gadamer calls the “fusion of horizons.”
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
JURGEN HABERMAS
Theory of Communicative Action

Communicative action is cooperative action

undertaken by individuals based upon mutual deliberation
and argumentation.
It is action based upon this deliberative process,
where 2 or more individuals interact and coordinate their
action based upon agreed interpretation of the situation.
Every consensus rest on an intersubjective
recognition of criticisable validity claims; it is thereby
presupposed that those acting communicatively are capable
of mutual criticism.
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
5. MARTIN BUBER (His work “I-Thou” Relationship)

• The fundamental fact of human existence is neither the “single

one” nor the social aggregate, BUT man with man.
• Human existence is basically a dialogue, and it is by relating
to another self that man becomes a whole self.
• Life is a complex of interpersonal relationships. Man can build
up personal relationship with different things: nature, other
human beings, or God.
• Love is directing one’s life towards the being and needs of the
other.
 Two Poles of Interpersonal Relationship:

“I” and “Thou”

I-Thou (Subject- Subject I-It (Subject-Object
relationship) Relationship)
1. A personal response made 1. Manipulative adjustments
towards our fellow beings made towards different
things that we confront.
2. One with a sharing of 2. Greater emphasis on
knowledge, feelings and processing and using
aspirations. something. We do not
respect human dignity when
we treat man as things, as
instruments for furthering
our own ends.
Buber…
1. A relationship can be perfect only when it is mutual.
2. Thou must affect I, as I must affect thou.
3. It is not worthy of man to live in the world of It alone. It is
beneath one’s dignity to let oneself remain confined within
the walls of the I-It world.
4. Without It man cannot live, but he who lives with It alone, is
not a man.
5. It is only when the I meets the Thou, that life becomes truly
meaningful.

(credit: Chakravarti and Roy)

Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations

6. GABRIEL MARCEL

He identified 3 concepts in Interpersonal Relationships

Availability

Presence

Fidelity
 1. Capacity to place oneself at the disposal of others;
to make oneself available to one another
Availability

2. man’s dignity lies in making himself “open” to

others

3. Human dignity is violated when men lead

“closed” lives and do not make themselves
available to others
Marcel’s thoughts on Presence
P 1. Availability enables a person to be present to another

R 2. Presence distinguishes itself from mere physical object.

Once we recognize that there is a self in front of us, their
being transcends the physical.
E
3. Those who are unavailable to us, those who are distracted
S by their own lives, those who are unable to be present to us,
are objects to us. Although we may not treat them as objects,
E because we cannot see the “other” in them, they are not
really present to us.
N 4. Presence is something that reveals itself immediately in a
look, smile, a tone, a handshake.
C
E 5. Presence is not physical proximity.
Marcel’s Thoughts on Fidelity
Fidelity 1. The typical ways of transcending ourselves
and making ourselves “open” to others are
making pledges, promises or engagements

2. Fidelity is the capacity to make

commitments and keep them

3. Anyone who fails to keep commitment also

fails to act with dignity

4. A life of dignity is a life of fidelity

Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
7. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

He believes that “Man is basically a SOCIAL SELF”

a. An individual is born into a world of other persons, into a

group which has culture.”

b. The human self is basically social and has taken the values of
the social process.
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
7. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

He believes that “Man is basically a SOCIAL SELF”

c. A human being truly develops as a person only through

interpersonal communication.

d. The more an individual participates in his group, the more he

is able to take on the attitudes of his society, and the more
highly conscious of himself he does become.
Have Faith in Harmonious Intersubjective
Human Relations
7. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

He believes that “Man is basically a SOCIAL SELF”

e. Mead believes that harmonizing individual interest and social

welfare is possible

f. Conflict among different social beings is due not to lack of

goodness or goodwill on the part of man, but to ignorance or
immaturity.
Activity: Collage Making
The collage should be able to depict
intersubjectivity. Specifically, how should I relate to
persons with disabilities and/ or the underprivileged
sectors of the society (the economically underprivileged
in the urban and rural communities.