Intersubjectivity Chapter 6

INTERSUBJECTIVITY
CHAPTER 6
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand that intersubjectivity requires
accepting differences and not imposing things
onTo
2. others
appreciate the talents of persons with
disabilities and those from the underprivileged
3. To realize
sectors that engaging in an authentic
of society
dialogue requires accepting others even if
they are different from one’s self
4. To realize that the other has a self of his
own, therefore a subject
INTRODUCTION
Do you agree that before helping others,

one should help oneself first? When we
help others, are we not helping ourselves
too? Meanwhile, can a person Live alone,
or is “being alone” only an idea?
• You will be introduced to some
philosophers who emphasized the
idea of the “subject” as a being who
recognizes the other.
• The “other” here refers to the other
person, such as a neighbor, stranger,
or simply another subject than the self.
INTERSUBJECTIVITY
• A term originally coined by the
philosopher Edmund Husserl, is most
simply stated as the interchange of
thoughts and feelings, both conscious
and unconscious, between two
persons or “subjects,” as facilitated by
Three philosophers with their central
ideas:
I. Paul Ricoeur‘s “Oneself as Another-
Selfhood”
2.Martin Buber’s “I and Thou”
3. Emmanuel Levinas” “Philosophy of the

Other.”
PAUL
RICOEUR
Man is this plural and collective unity
in which the unity of destination and
the differences of destinies are to be
understood through each other
( Ricoeur ,1986)
PAUL
RICOEUR
Ricoeur ‘s complete name is (Jean-Paul
Gustave Ricoeur).
He was born on February 27, 1913, at

Valence, France.
He died on May 20, 2005, at Châtena-

PAUL
RICOEUR
He is a French philosopher and
historian who studied various
Linguistic and psychoanalytic
theories of interpretation
How is the philosophy of Ricoeur
connected to the concept of
intersubjectivity?
• He said that the world now becomes
discoverable, not behind the text but in
front of the text, then the work unfolds,
discovers, and reveals.
• The realization of the development of the
self presupposes that a reader of a text
will realize to be a good and responsible
person, not only for himself but for others
• Ricoeur has underlined the idea of the
self in his book Oneself as Another.
• This thought is not a comparison

between the self and the other, rather
this is an illustration of the subject and
intersubject that, there is an implication
that oneself is similar to another or
oneself since being other (Ricoeur,
• I think, therefore, I am” into the
Limelight. Rene Descartes is a
philosopher who Lived during the
Scientific Revolution, the era of rapid
advances in the sciences.
• He is best known for his “Methodic
doubt” and the concept of the “Cogito”.
• When talking about the self, “I think,
therefore, I am” means that man is a
Even in one of Descartes’ seminal
works, Meditations, it has been written
in first-person to emphasize that it is his
journey, the self’s journey. Descartes
Lived his philosophy of the self, and in
this manner, the reader of his work is
brought to a meditation and reflection.
The purpose of discussing Descartes’
ideas here is to emphasize the
importance of the self. If one knows
the self well, understands the self,
then the act of reaching out for others
is not a farfetched reality (Ricoeur,
1994)
Taking into account the subject-self
paves the way for understanding the
idea of the other. The self is present
because the other presupposes as a
being that also recognizes not only
oneself but also the self of the other
human persons.
MARTIN
BUBER
The content and relation of these two
worlds is the theme of I and Thou. The
other person, the Thou, is shown to be a
reality-that is-it is given to me, but it is
not bounded by me. (Martin Buber, 1923)
MARTIN
BUBER
Martin Buber was born on February 8,
1878 He died on June 13, 1965.
He is a prolific writer, author, scholar, and
political activist. His works were mostly
written in German and Hebrew, Like the
Jewish mysticism to social philosophy,
biblical studies, and phenomenology.
MARTIN
BUBER
The assumption here is that one’s
existence is situated and enclosed,
thus contained in a group existence.
This existence is heightened by the act
of dialogue, Leading to the realization
of total-presentness
MARTIN
BUBER
For example, a woman who washes
dishes for a Living is reflected as a
strong independent woman or a mother
who is optimistic that her family can
survive despite the difficulties that Life
could possibly offer (Friedman & Buber,
1967).
MARTIN
BUBER
Valuing is the growing point of human
existence because we Live in the
present pointed toward the future,
aware of possibilities, having to make
decisions between “better” and
“worse,” having to create our own
future through our response to the day-
To know how to address human
existence vis-à-vis the self’s existence
is the key to achieving the state of
being fully human. If the self is only at
the play of discovering his own
existence, he might fall short in
becoming fully human
EMMANUEL,
LEVINAS
To approach the Other in conversation is
to welcome his expression, in which at
each instant he overflows the idea a
thought would carry away from it.
Therefore, it is to receive from the Other
beyond the capacity of the I, which
means exactly: to have the idea of
EMMANUEL,
LEVINAS
Emmanuel Levinas was born December
30, 1905, Kaunas, Lithuania He died on
December 25, 1995, in Paris, France).
He is a Lithuanian-born French philosopher

renowned for his powerful critique of
ontology’s preeminence in the history of
Western philosophy (Huxley, 2002).
EMMANUEL,
LEVINAS
Ethics is the first philosophy because it is
only by acknowledging the command in
the ‘face’ of the other that we can
account for the sensitivity to the
normative distinctions that structure
intentional content.” (Crowell, 2015)
EMMANUEL,
LEVINAS
Thus, the human person is intentionally
directed to the world, and in the face of
the other, he/she does not find
superiority over the other. Ethics calls for
a vivid and wide scope of responsibility
towards the other
EMMANUEL,
LEVINAS
Some may believe that there are people
who do not deserve to be helped,
especially if these individuals have
wronged and caused them pain, these
kinds of situation. Require sincerity to be
responsible for others. In other words,
being responsible is taking care for the
EMMANUEL,
LEVINAS
The other does not only mean the alterity
of the self or as the other person, but also
those who are weak and vulnerable whose
existence is interconnected with the
environment
CONCLUSION
Intersubjectivity includes fundamentally

the ideas of the self and the other. For
Ricoeur, as he employed Rene Descartes
in elucidating the concept of the self and
other reiterates, one should Learn how to
develop oneself before one reaches out
for the other.
CONCLUSION
The philosophy of Ricoeur, Buber, and

Levinas prepares the human person for
society as he goes out of his comfort
zones. The next chapter will broaden our
understanding of the subject-the human
person as part of a bigger picture called

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INTERSUBJECTIVITY

Do you agree that before helping others,

2.Martin Buber’s “I and Thou”

3. Emmanuel Levinas” “Philosophy of the

He was born on February 27, 1913, at

He died on May 20, 2005, at Châtena-

• This thought is not a comparison

He is a Lithuanian-born French philosopher

Intersubjectivity includes fundamentally

The philosophy of Ricoeur, Buber, and

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