INTERSUBJECTIVITY

#ROMS_ROMM
Intersubjectivity is a term
used in philosophy,
psychology, sociology, and
anthropology to represent the
psychological relation
between people.
It is usually in contrast to
solipsistic individual
experience, emphasizing our
inherently social being.
Solipsism is a theory in
philosophy that your own
existence is the only thing that
is real or that can be known.
REALIZE THAT INTERSUBJECTIVITY
REQUIRES DIFFERENCES AND NOT
TO IMPOSE OTHERS
Though we are part of our
society, we are still different
individuals living in this
society. Each of us will have
different appearances or
points of view.
Labels could be negative or
limiting, you may be called
“impatient,” “whiny” (to
complain in an annoying way)
or “stubborn.” Nevertheless,
we could go beyond the labels.
As humans we are holistic. As
humans, we are to be regarded
in our totality. Thus, we can
redesign the labels to
something new and exciting.
 INTERSUBJECTIVITY AS
ONTOLOGY: THE SOCIAL
DIMENSIONS OF THE SELF
Ontology is a branch of
metaphysics concerned with
the nature and relations of
being
For this section, Martin
Buber`s and Karol Wojtyla`s
views will be used as the main
framework in understanding
intersubjectivity.
Both philosophers were
influenced by their religious
background. They believed in
the notion of concrete
experience/existence of the
human person.
They also think that one must
not lose the sight of one`s self
in concrete experience.
For both views, the human
person is total, not dual. For
Wojtyla, the social dimension is
represented by “We relation”
and for Buber the interpersonal
by the “I – you relation.”
Martin Buber is Jewish
existentialist philosopher. He
was born in Vienna and was
brought up in a Jewish
tradition.
In his work I and thou (ich and
Du), he conceives the human
person in his/her wholeness,
totality, concrete existence
and relatedness to the world.
Saint Pope John Paul II or Karol
Wojtyla was born in Wadowice
Poland. He was elected to the
Papacy on October 16, 1978
(264 th pope) and was
considered a great pope (88%)
He was also an architect of
Communism`s demise in
Poland. In his encyclical letter,
Fides set ratio, he criticized
the traditional definition of
human as “rational animal.”
He maintains that the human
person is the one who exists
and acts.
For Wojtyla, action reveals the
nature of the human agent.
Participation explains the
essence of the human person.
Through participation, the person
is able to fulfill one`s self.
The human person is oriented
toward relation and sharing in the
communal life for the common
good. As St. Augustine of Hippo said
“No human being should become an
end to him/herself. We are
responsible to our neighbors as we
are to our own actions.”
We participate in the
communal life (we). Our notion
of the neighbor and fellow
member is by participating in
the humanness of the other
person (i-you).
Bubbers i-thou philosophy is
about the human person as a
subject, who is a being
different from things or from
objects.
The human person experiences
his wholeness not in virtue of his
relation to one`s self, but in
virtue of his relation to another
self. The human person
establishes the world of mutual
relations, of experience.
The human persons as subjects
have direct and mutual sharing
of selves. This signifies a
person-to-person, relation or
acceptance, sincerity, concern,
respect, dialog, and care.
The human person is not just
being-in-the-world but being-
with-others, or being-in-
relation.
APPRECIATE THE TALENTS OF PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES (PWD) AND THOSE
FROM THE UNDERPRIVILEGED SECTORS
OF SOCIETY AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS
The process of suspecting,
recognizing, and identifying
the handicap for parents with
PWD will include feelings of
shock, bewilderment, sorrow,
anger, and guilt.
Whether these pertains to deafness
or spirited children, denial, for
instance, is universal. During
diagnosis, isolation of affect occurs
when the parents intellectually
accepts deafness of their child. The
loss should require mourning or
grief; otherwise, something is
seriously wrong.
Feeling of impotence or questioning
“why me?” are some feelings of
ambivalence regarding a child`s
condition. Some parents turn to
religion, and consider “heaven sent
blessing in disguise,” this denies the
real implications of the disability.
Additional reactions include
fear of the future, when
parents worry about how the
disability of the child will affect
his/her productivity, or
become lifelong burden.
Parents whose children were
diagnosed with disability have
to let go of their dream child.
Realization and grief can blind
parents to their child`s
uniqueness.
There are many categories of
PWD. To mention some, there
are the hearing impaired,
diabetic, asthmatic, or cystic
fibrotic persons.
Parents of cystic fibrotic
reported the most special
problem areas and caretaking
needs. Parents of hearing
impaired children have more
behavior management issues.
While parents of cystic fibrotic
children reported the highest
levels of family importance
(Mapp 2004)
A study in North America shows
that 50% of deaf children read
less than the normal children. For
the deaf, total communication is
recommended, which includes
the traditional method with use of
finger spelling and sign language.
On the other hand, spirited
kids and children with ADHD
(Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder) are
different.
A spirited perceptive child will
notice everything going on
around her but will be able to
process that information quickly
and will be able to select the most
important information to listen
to.
An ADHD child will find it
difficult to focus or complete a
task, despite her best efforts
Negative attitudes of the
family and community toward
PWDs may add to their poor
academic and vocational
outcomes.
Parents need to reach the point of
constructive action. They can decide
to restructure certain aspects of
their lifestyle In order to
accommodate the communicative
as well as the educational needs of
their child with disability.
Community sensitivity,
through positive and
supportive attitudes toward
PWDs, is also an important
component. (Mapp 2004)
ON UNDERPRIVILEGED
SECTORS OF SOCIETY
Dimensions of Poverty
The notion of poverty is not
one-dimensional; rather it is
multidimensional. A number of
different concepts and measures
of poverty relate to its various
dimensions.
Each of these dimensions has
the common characteristic of
representing deprivation that
encompasses:
Income
health
Education
Empowerment
Working condition
The most common measure of
the underprivileged is income
poverty, which is defined in
terms of consumption of
goods and services.
The World Bank categorizes
poverty in two levels: poor and
extremely poor.
There is a growing recognition
that income poverty is not the
only important measure of
deprivation. Poor health is also
an important aspect of
poverty.
Globally, millions die due to
AIDS, Ebola virus, tuberculosis
and malaria as well as number
of infant deaths from largely
preventable causes of
diarrheal disease.
Health deprivation had
become focal point for the
underprivileged.
Human rights are also relevant to
issues of global poverty in its focus on
shortfalls in basic needs. The church,
in its pro-poor stance, is constantly
challenged wherein justice is being
denied for sectors like farmers, fisher
folks, indigenous people and victims
of calamity and labor.
In 1712, Jean Jacques Rousseau said
that women should be educated to
please men. Moreover, he believes
that women should be useful to
men, should take care, advise,
console men and to render men`s
lives easy and agreeable.
Mary Wollstonecraft, in
Vindication on the Rights of
Women (1782), argued that
such education would produce
women who were mere
propagators of fools.
Propagate means to make
(something such as an idea or
belief) known to many people.

To produce
She believes that women must
be united to men in wisdom
and rationality. Society should
allow women to attain equal
rights to philosophy and
education given to men.
Women should not just to be
valued until their beauty fades.
She maintains that women
must learn to respect
themselves.
She stressed that women
should not marry for a support.
Instead, they should earn their
own “bread.”
In the Philippines, women are
subjected to oppression,
among others, of class and sex
 BABAE
Kayo ba ang mga Maria Clara
Mga Hule at mga Sisa
Na di marunong na lumaban?
Kaapiha`y bakit iniluluha?
Mga babae, kayo ba`y sadyang mahina?
Kayo ba ang mga Cinderella
Na lalake, ang tanging pag-asa?
Kayo nga ba ang mga nena
Na katawan ay ibinebenta?
Mga babae, kayo ba`y sadyang pang-
kama?
Ang tanging isip ay buksan
At lipuna`y pag-aralan
Ang nahubog ninyong isipan
At tanggaping kayo`y mga libangan
Mga babae, ito nga ba`y kapalaran?
Bakit ba mayroong mga Gabriela
Mga Teresa at Tandang Sora
Na di umasa sa luha`t awa?
Sila`y nagsipaghawak ng sandata
Nakilaban, ang mithiin ay lumaya.
Bakit ba mayrong mga Lisa
Mga Liliosa at mga Lorena
Na di natakot makibaka
At ngayo`y marami nang kasama?
Mga babae, ang mithiin ay lumaya!
`”Babae,” sung usually during
women`s month (March), is a
song that problematizes the
gender role assigned by the
social order to women since
their childhood.
Opposing the identity reinforced
by dominant patriarchal
institutions like the family,
education, the law, and the
media, the song advances the
alternative image of the woman
aspiring for liberation.