Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
SCHOOLS DIVISION OFFICE OF BALANGA CITY
INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
2nd QUARTER, Week 3: Intersubjectivity

INTERSUBJECTIVITY
- The interaction between the self and
other wherein there is mutual
recognition of each other as equal
beings.
- A structure of relationship that is
supported by genuine
communication founded on mutual
respect for each other as subjects.
- The realm of existence to which the
preposition with properly applies
(Marcel, 1950).
- Through it, people transcend the
labels that society puts on us and we
recognize an incalculable inherent
value of a person.
- A state in which one recognizes
one’s being as a being-with-others.
CONCEPTS OF INTERSUBJECTIVITY
1. To be with – Signifies co-presence,
an openness of my presence to the
presence of the other person.
2. To be –is- to be with – living directed
towards something other than self or
living outside self.
3. Genuine Communication – revealing
oneself to others without fear of
prejudices. Also, understanding and
relating to others with careful and
fair conclusions about them.
4. Decentering – displacing oneself
from the central position or
removing self-centeredness. Making
the welfare of another the center of
one’s life.
TOTALIZATION
- A denial of the other’s difference or
the “denial of the otherness of the
other”.
- Eradicating any possibility of being
surprised by the other person.
- Totalitarian rule rests on the
assurance that the state knows every
single move of its subjects through
strict surveillance. It does not leave
uncertainty, does not allow anything
hidden in the dark. It is like
overpowering the existence of
others.
*** For Emmanuel Levinas, the power over
another person cannot be absolute because
of the capacity of a person to resist it. One
may find the resistance in the face of the
other. The face resists possession, resists
powers. In its epiphany, in expression, the
sensible and graspable (like the face) can
turn into total resistance to the grasp.