LOOK AT THE MIRROR
Stand in front of the mirror and look at
your own reflection for 30 sec. in
silence. Write your thoughts in the
white board with these following
questions.
1. How am I this moment?
2. What do I see in myself that others
might also experience?
Do you agree that before helping
others, one should help oneself
first?. we help others, are we not
When
helping ourselves too? Meanwhile,
can a person live alone, or is “being
alone” only an idea?
For this lesson, we will try to
acquaint ourselves with the idea of
intersubjectivity.
I NT E R S U B J E C T I VI T
Y
E P HILO S OP H Y O F
INTR ODU C TION TO TH
CHAPTER 6: H U M AN P ER S ON
TH E
-HOW DO I WANT TO BE SEEN
BY OTHERS?
-HOW I AM VIEWED BY OTHERS?
-HOW I VIEW MYSELF TO
OTHERS?
3 central ideas of Philosophers:
Paul Ricoeur’s “Oneself as Another-Selfhood”,
Martin Buber’s “I and Thou”,
and Emmanuel Levinas’ “Philosophy of the Other
DESTINATION AND
THE DIFFERENCES
OF DESTINIES ARE
TO BE
UNDERSTOOD
THROUGH EACH
OTHER” (RICOEUR,
1986)
Paul Ricoeur’s
Hermeneutics or the art of interpretation.
the text is necessary for the development of the
self and paves the way to discover the world.
Through hermeneutics, one can be a better
version of himself
Paul Ricoeur’s
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, 2008)
For him, if one stretches out the idea of the self or
self-hood, one cannot exclude the idea of the other .
Paul Ricoeur’s
It 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, 1994)
-something cannot be called a self without the
other.
Ricoeur’s idea of the self brought
Descartes’ famous dictum “I think, therefore, I am” into the
limelight ---means that man is a thinking being, and that a
thinking being exists (Ricoeur, 1994).
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).
“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)
WHAT IS
INTERSUBJECTIVITY?
-relationship where two subjects (or
person) interchanged thoughts and
feelings, both conscious and
unconscious, as facilitated by empathy.
Seeming: acting differently before
different people
Dialogue: opening up (i.e. the giving
and receiving) of persons to each other
in their encounter.
3 LEVELS OF
INTERSUBJECTIVITY
Empathy : ability to put oneself in
the shoes of the other.
Availability: willingness to be
present and be at the disposal of
the other.
Ethics of care: moral obligation to
responds to the needs of the other.
3 INTER-RELATIONSHIP/LEVELS
1. Simple awareness of the
existence of other.
2. Simple awareness of the self
as being seen by others.
3. Awareness of the self in the
other.
2 WAYS WE RELATE WITH OTHER
(MARTIN BUBER)
1. I-IT RELATIONSHIP
Person does not experience
authentic encounter with each other
self (I) treats the other as an object
(it) to be used.
-Monologue
Alienation: inauthentic, deceptive,
and exploitative relationship
2 WAYS WE RELATE WITH OTHER
(MARTIN BUBER)
2. I-THOU RELATIONSHIP
Genuine sharing of one another.
I treats the other as distinctly other
(thou), as another person who has
different characteristics, beliefs and
values
- Dialogue
“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 INFINITY. BUT THIS ALSO MEANS:
TO BE TAUGHT” (EMMANUEL
LEVINAS, 1979)
For 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).
Thus, the human person is intentionally
directed to the world; and in the face of
the other, he/she does not find
This idea of intersubjectivity
presupposes the equality and
inclusiveness of every individual.
For instance, in a classroom setting
where most armchairs are designed
only for a right-handed person,
being responsible for the other
presupposes that the left-handed
students will also be provided with
He challenges the notion of the
idealistic transcendental “ego” as
man's ultimate goal. For him, one
should not focus on the question of
being's essence, but rather which
responsibility has it awoken to. He
continues that this is no longer
considered as justification, rather
construed as an ethical response to
the other (J. Cohen, 2012).
This “other” that we have been discussing
is not limited to the other person. 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.
Levinas asserts that “the Other's
‘exteriority’ does not consist in the
difference between my
appearancesystems and his or hers, but in
He challenges the notion of the
idealistic transcendental “ego” as
man's ultimate goal. For him, one
should not focus on the question of
being's essence, but rather which
responsibility has it awoken to. He
continues that this is no longer
considered as justification, rather
construed as an ethical response to
the other (J. Cohen, 2012).
Summary:
Ricoeur is known for his work in
hermeneutics and phenomenology.
Buber is best known for his philosophy of
dialogue, articulated in his work "I and
Thou." Levinas's philosophy is heavily
centered on ethics and the Other.
LEARNING OPPORTUNITY |
REFLECTION
True connection begins when we see one as
another not as an object to be used , but as
soul to be embraced in mutual presence.
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