Human Existence of

Intersubjectivity
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS IS SUB-EXISTENT. THE SELF ONLY EXISTS IN SO FAR AS IT TREATS ITSELF
AS BEING FOR ANOTHER, WITH REFERENCE TO ANOTHER.
- GABRIEL MARCEL
ENTRY POINT

STAND AND DELIVER

Do you agree or do not agree with the statement, “People need people.” Articulate your
stand in not more than five sentences,
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

 Intersubjectivity presupposes human being’s connectivity with other human beings. It

means that we share the same situations wherein we can create shared meanings. These
meanings become bases for our collective actions and beliefs.
 Nonetheless, these shared meanings do not eliminate our own individuality. Though
shared meanings become channels of collective actions, they do not demand uniformity of
expressions of these actions
 Continuous sharing of meaning leads to open communication of myself to the other. The
unveiling of myself to other human beings lead me to a deeper knowledge of myself: self-
knowledge towards manifestation and realization of my selfhood.
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

1. Human being is a social being.

 A human being creates his/her world to establish relationship with other created
things. He/she has to establish relationship with the environment for him/her to
survive as part of it. Detached from the environment, he/she cannot survive.
Moreover, since he/she is endowed with reason, he/she has to establish
relationship with other human beings. Such relationship is mediated by actions
expressed in words to transform their environment. It is inherent in human being
to communicate and establish relation with the environment and with other
human beings. This relationship transforms both the environment and the human
beings. It is a relationship that creates communion of beings through which
human beings establish community.
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

 Open communication or vocative situation or dialogue among

human beings is an encounter of unique persons in a concrete
context or situation in the community. This encounter is mediated
by their shared context and situations which they themselves have
created. Those who share such communication have the power to
name their world (Freire, 1970, 76) and experiences as results of
communicative encounter among human beings.
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

 As social beings, communication among humans is a necessity. It does not only transform
the social context but also their perspective on existence and its meaning. Since
communication is a necessity toward intersubjectivity, it also becomes a means towards
meaningful existence. It is through constant communication that one can assert his/her
existence. One’s existence is manifested through the existence of others. The existence of
each person is irreplaceable. One cannot replace the existence of the other for it is unique
for each person. As Gabriel Marcel puts it:
Not only do we have a right to assert that others exist, existence can be attributed only to
others, and in virtue of their otherness, and that I cannot think of myself as existing except in
so far as I conceive of myself as not being the others; and so as other than them. I would go
so far as to say that it is of the essence of the other to exist. (Marcel 2007, 104)
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

 In this context of constant communication, human beings give name to the world;
consequently, they transform and humanize it. Dialogue imposes itself as the way by
which they achieve significance as social beings. Thus, it is an existential necessity. Since
dialogue is the encounter in which the united reflection and action of the dialoguer’s are
addressed to the world, this dialogue cannot be reduced to the act of one person’s
depositing ideas on another, nor can it become a simple exchange of ideas to be consumed
by discussants (Freire 1970, 77) It is a dialogue between or among thinking and acting
persons who continuously unveil, discover and create themselves. The content of such
dialogue is not only the external things that they have experienced, but everything
concerning each person’s being.
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

2. Human being is born and creates himself/herself in social interaction.

 The existence of human being is the consequence of social interaction
particularly between two unique individuals. They together strengthen this
interaction through constant communication. From such communication, they
establish communion of lives that leads to the establishment of family where the
basic interactions are realized. Such communicative interaction becomes a
matrix in which each person participates, adopts and absorbs the values, system,
beliefs and world-view that pervade and harmonize among the individuals in the
social interaction.
Intersubjectivity of Human Beings

 The social interaction among the family members of the family can be concretely
experienced in the Filipino family in the spirit of “sakop”. Filipino philosophy
believes that “sakop” reveals the mechanisms of Filipino family in establishing
wider family relations which result to extended family ties. This system becomes
a medium or means of determining the seminal character of every member of the
family. In such communicative situation or dialogue in the family, every member
projects the perennial values, beliefs and the world view of the family. Each
person carries the whole being and collective consciousness of the family.
 Paolo Freire
Freire is famous for his Pedagogy of the
Oppressed, a radical theory of education that
encourages to question things that prevents
people and society to gain the quality of life
they want.
Check Point

Identify the concept being described:

__________1. The consequence of continuous sharing of meaning with other
persons.
__________2. The basis of human beings in creating shared meanings.
__________3. It reveals the Filipino family view’s in establishing a more intimate
relation among human beings.
__________4. It is a situation where encounter among persons in concrete milieu
unfolds.
__________5. The philosopher who claims that self-consciousness is subexistent.
Thinking Out Loud

A Short Discourse

What is your comment of this statement, “Only in interhuman that you can become and
realize yourself?”
Reflect Zone

Learning from Your Experience

Your brother or sister comes to you with a frown face, and he/she grumbles against your
mother. What will you do so that your sibling and your mother will enter into a genuine
dialogue and solve their differences.
The Dimensions of a
Nonrelational Self
MAN CANNOT BECOME HIMSELF IN ISOLATION. – KARL JASPERS
The Dimensions of a Nonrelational Self

Life of communion is a vocative situation where possible

selfhood of human being is actualized and experienced.
However, rupture of this life happens when one decides to shun
from the world or conceal himself/herself in his/her own world.
The expressions of this situation can be seen through various
forms such as isolation, pretention, manipulation and selfishness.
The will to struggle to enter into life of communion prevents the
occurrence of the rupture.
Entry Point

Sharing One’s Observation and Experience

Based on your own observation and experience, share your own point of view why there are
persons who will choose to stop communicating or relating with other people. Summarize
your sharing in two points.
1. ________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________
A. The Self in Isolation

 Human being lives in isolation when he/she does not recognize the existence of
other human beings. He/she lives in a community but he/she does not establish
vocative situation with others. He/she does not establish relational interaction
that leads to open communication with others.
 Another form of isolation of self is when human being consciously leaves the
communicative situation. Consequently, human being cannot unveil and discover
himself/herself. This is a rupture of the possibility of life of communion. Human
being who is not in communion with the other tries to grasp his/her life alone.
A. The Self in Isolation

 Jaspers points out that if this becomes absolute, there is a danger of

making a judgment and using it as a basis of the understanding of
realities around him/her. Human being demands acceptance for
what he/she thinks, and says. But he/she cannot find himself/herself
in this way. For Jaspers, it is in open communication that human
being’s true self can manifest itself to other human beings and
experiences self-realization. He/she cannot attain full
consciousness of himself/herself in isolation.
B. The Self in the Realm of Pretensions.

 Deception is a hindrance toward the establishment of

communicative situation or dialogue between or among human
beings. It emerges and distorts a possible communication when a
human being projects his/her false image of his/her self to other
human beings. Buber observes that human being pretends to be
another person to be accepted by others. He/she pretends to be
someone other than himself/herself which he/she is not.
B. The Self in the Realm of Pretensions.

 In such situation, if the other person accept his/her projected

false image, communicative manifestation of the self is
impossible to unfold. The other person is unconsciously being
deceived by the person who knows that he/she accepts, trusts and
cares for him/her. Deception hinders the true being from
unveiling self. When a human being relates with another in
deception, the content of such communication is not the true self
but the seeming and imagined self.
C. The Self in the Realm of Manipulation

 Manipulation between or among person occurs when one says to the other
“I create your world and you must only think, feel and act within its
boundary. Your world view and your understanding about the world are
according to the world that I have created for you. You act according to
the image that I set. As you do it, I find satisfaction and security.”
Intersubjectivity is impossible to unfold in this kind of relationship (Karl
Jaspers 1956, 84). Those who are involved can never live in truth. Open
communication and vocative situation can never be established.
C. The Self in the Realm of Manipulation

 In this situation, a human being sees the other person as a mere “thing or
it.” He/she does not recognize the very being of the other. He/she controls
the other as an object. He/she relates with the other for personal gain and
development. This would result to manipulative relationship. The
freedom to express and unveil one’s uniqueness and the truth of oneself
are not manifested and shared. Thus, in this kind of relationship, growth
or true personal development is impossible to attain. One is corrupted by
his/her own selfishness. And the other is yielded to live in a manipulative
and distorted world.
C. The Self in the Realm of Manipulation

 Since the “I” sees the other as an object that satisfies his/her appetitive desires,
the other person becomes an object of satisfaction for sexual desire or material
desire. The “I” objectifies the other self-satisfaction at the expense of the other.
He/she can easily dispose the other as an “it”. (Martin Buber 1970). He/she
disposes the other if the other can no longer give him/her satisfaction. It is like
one throwing a gadget after he/she gets a new one that gives his/her immediate
satisfaction. It is like replacing an I-pod 5 with an I-pod 6. the I-pod 5 can now
be disposed or given to another or thrown into the trash can. It can no longer
give satisfaction that the owner desires.
C. The Self in the Realm of Manipulation

 In such situation, there is no room and opportunity for the

other to be himself/herself and recognize his/her own
uniqueness and identity. One is being absorbed by the other.
The subjectivity of the other disappears or is even distorted.
The aim of one in existence is to find and realize
himself/herself. But in this manipulative situation, a human
being loses the possibility of his/her selfhood.
C. The Self in the Realm of Manipulation

 Nonrelational self can also be experienced in certain corporate organization. When one or
group of people manipulates all the members of an association by not giving information
that transpires in an assembly meeting, or by using their power to appoint a member of
the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), and appointing a disqualified candidate to
become a member of the Board of Trustees. This is not only illegal but also not moral.
This group deceives the members of the association by calling for an assembly meeting
and using people who support their own personal interest. These few individuals forced
those who have attended the assembly to nullify what the authorized persons have
proclaimed. In this situation, open communications or dialogue is impossible to prosper,
which is a vital aspect in establishing and enriching a just association.
C. The Self in the Realm of Manipulation

 In such situation, the subject of every person who attends the assembly is lost.
He/she is unable to express his/her own freedom, which gives him/her the power
to participate in the values which bind him/her to others. One is identified with
all. There is an unquestioning existence (Karl Jaspers, Philosophy, vol. 3, 1970,
48). The subject of the person is lost because he/she is treated as an object. A
person interacts with the other persons as a mere thing for use. As pseudo-
authority exploits pseudo power, the consciousness of each member of the
association is distorted and misled for the member to accept a pseudo authority.
As a result, each member of the association is reduced to a point, exploitable,
nothing more.
D. The Self in the Realm of Selfishness

 Self-centeredness is another factor that hinders the establishment of

communicative manifestation or vocative situation or dialogue between
or among human beings. If it pervades in any relationship, a human being
who is in this relationship cannot naturally grow and find his/her
selfhood. The “I” does not recognize the existence of the person as a
“subject” but as a means to attain personal satisfaction. The “I” sees only
itself as the basis of truth and social existence. The other person is left as
an object and stripped of his/her presence (Buber 2000, 12)
D. The Self in the Realm of Selfishness

 The “I” is the center of relationship. In this kind of relationship, the “I” looks at the other
persons as means for personal growth. From his/her vantage point, he/she believes that
he/she can grow in selfishness. However, this will result to superficiality. Selfishness
hinders a person from sharing his/her being. He/she sees the other as an empty vessel of
values and of meaning. Selfishness blinds a person from seeing the other source of unique
world, values and meaning that can possibly enrich his/her being. Selfishness hinders the
person from opening himself/herself and be transparent to the other for true communion
of worlds, meanings, values and self-beings (Buber 2000). Selfishness hinders him/her
from being transparent to the other. Only through the process of transparency can his/her
personal wants and desires be laid bare.
 Martin Buber
(1875 – 1975)
As an existentialist Jewish Philosopher,
Buber in his groundbreaking work, I and
Thou (1952) outlines the “essentials” that
differentiate it from any “I-It” relationship.
In the I-Thou, every human relationship is
essentially an interhuman relationship.
 Karl Jaspers
Karl Jaspers is one of the influential German
thinkers of the twentieth century. He was
born in Oldenburg, Germany and died in
February 1969. Jasper’s primary focus was
the concrete individual person. He believes
that personal experience is human being’s
fundamental source of truth about reality.
Reflect Zone

Being Responsive

A friend approached and confided in you that her parents were at the brink of separation.
This situation has caused pain and confusion to your friend. She told you that her world was
about to explode. What will you say or do?