INTERSUBJECTIVITY:

Authentic Relationships
Philosophy of the Human Person

DGMALEON
 OBJECTIVES:
• Discuss intersubjectivity and how it
defines human interaction and
relationships;

• Describe what an authentic relationship is

and its various aspects;

• Describe how they can engage in

meaningful relationships in their lives.

DGMALEON
…awareness of
individuality

…being aware of the

other
DGMALEON
…refers to objects outside
of personal experience

…refer to other individuals

apart from the self
An individual is naturally aware of
himself or herself as a distinct being
(SELF), and yet he/she is also
aware that there are other beings
apart from him/her (OTHER).

DGMALEON
 …shared awareness and
understanding among persons.
DGMALEON
 Intersubjectivity and
Dialogue
"Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who
is unsocial
naturally and accidentally is either beneath our
notice or more than human. Society
is something that precedes the individual. Anyone
who either cannot lead the
common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to,
and therefore does not partake
of society, is either a beast or a god."

The social character of one's human existence Intersubjective and relational

is not only existential in the sense that it defines a
person's human existence. It is dimension is an essential
also natural because there is natural character of one's
interdependence between or among people as
human individuals. human existence.
 Intersubjectivity and its
Dimension
It is recognized that there is an "other" a
"thou," or a "fellowman" who also exists in
the world.
When one enters into a
relationship, he/she shares with
another person or
other people something of
himself/herself; he/she shares
his/her time, resources,
ideas, skills, and most important,
his/her inner thoughts and
feelings.
 Intersubjectivity and its
Dimension
The interpersonal dimension is a
person-to-person relation.
The social dimension, on the involves the
person and many relations.
Personal relations
are more intimate and
profound because they go
beyond mere social
interaction
or relation.
 It is based on the experience that man is
not a solitary being; he exists and lives
with others.
DGMALEON
The human person is a
SOCIAL BENG.
DGMALEON
INTERSUBJECTIVITY:
Recognizing OTHERS DGMALEON
JURGEN HABERMAS:
Theory of Communicative Action

…a known German sociologist

and philosopher in the
tradition of critical theory

…believes that speech acts

(DIALOGUE) were
predominant means by which
DGMALEON understanding is
Rightnes
s Truthfulness

Truth

Comprehensibility
DGMALEON
 JURGEN HABERMAS:
Theory of Communicative Action

Comprehensibility
speaker and hearer must use
comprehensible expressions in which
they both understand

use of ordinary language

DGMALEON
 JURGEN HABERMAS:
Theory of Communicative Action

Truth
the speaker should use a true
proposition so that the hearer can share
in the speaker’s knowledge

refers to how true the uttered

statement in reference to objective
facts

DGMALEON
 JURGEN HABERMAS:
Theory of Communicative Action

Truthfulness
speaker must be truthful in his
intention in order to elicit trust from
the hearer

pertains to the genuine intention of

the speaker which is essential for the
hearer’s gaining trust.

DGMALEON
 JURGEN HABERMAS:
Theory of Communicative Action

Rightness
both speaker and hearer must agree on
the right utterance with respect to a
recognized normative background

pertains to the acceptable tone and

pitch of voice and expressions
…the manner of utterance or way of speaking use
in conversation could either be a hindrance or
means for genuine understanding DGMALEON
…authentic dialogue leading
to better relationship

Comprehensibility
Truthfulness
Rightness
Truth

intersubjective “reciprocal understanding,

shared knowledge, mutual trust, and accord with
one another” DGMALEON
MARTIN BUBER:
I-Thou Relationship

…a Jewish philosopher
…became famous through his
1923 philosophical writings
entitled I and Thou (Ich und
Du)

The way man treats the machine as an object

becomes also his way of treating the other human
person. DGMALEON
 Experience
: I-It
Through experience, man
collects data of the world, …in terms of experiencing, no real
analyses, classifies, and relationship occurs
theorizes about them.

The “it” is viewed as a

“I” is acting more as an
thing to be utilized, a
observer thing to be known, or put
while its object, the “it” is more of a for some
receiver of the I’s interpretation purpose
An individual treats the other as objects to used and
experienced! DGMALEON
 Experience
: I-It
The “I” lacks authentic existence for it’s
not socially growing or developing
perhaps only gaining knowledge about
the object

DGMALEON
 Encounter
:
I-THOU
both the “I” and the ‘other’ enter
into a genuine relationship as …treating the other as a “You” and
active participants not an “it”

subjects do not perceive each is an I-Thou relation in which

other as objects but subjects
both subjects share a sense
of caring, respect,
commitment,
and
responsibility.
DGMALEON
 Encounter
:
I-THOU
Thus, the “Thou” is not a means to some
object or goal and the “I”, through its relation
with the “Thou”, receives a more complete
authentic existence.

The more that I-and-

Thou share their
reality, the more
complete is their
REALITY .
DGMALEON
EMMANUEL LEVINAS:
Face of the OTHER

…commonly known as French

philosopher
…focuses more on the “Other” as the basis of
relationship; intersubjective relationship in
which the “Other” is given more importance than
the self.

…grounds his ethics in a criticism of

Western philosophical
tradition which subordinates the
personal relation with concrete person who
is an existent to an impersonal relation with
an abstract “Being” …we use the values and beliefs that we
inherited from our society and used them
as our basis in relating with “others”.
DGMALEON
 EMMANUEL LEVINAS:
Face of the OTHER

suggests to adopt a genuine face-to-face

encounter with the “Other”
He even claimed that the meaning of
ethics is in responding to the needs of the
“Other”, to be subjected to the “Other”, and to
be responsible to the “Other” without
Thus, for Levinas, doing something for expecting anything in return
the “Other” and fulfilling one’s
responsibility even to the point of
sacrificing one’s life for the sake of
the “Other” is the identification mark
of
one’s humanity and
spirituality. DGMALEON
 EMMANUEL LEVINAS:
Face of the OTHER

Levinas’ ethics reminds us of our moral duty

and infinite responsibility to people
with disabilities, the underprivileged in the
society, and even to LGBT community whose
weakness and vulnerability has always been
taken advantage by the society.

DGMALEON
 EMMANUEL LEVINAS:
Face of the OTHER

Levinas also reminds us that being ethical is

being open for, prepared to, and
impassioned with the radical
difference of the other.

…the “other” or the human person

must
first be given primacy before any
“abstract standard”.
DGMALEON
 EMMANUEL LEVINAS:
Face of the OTHER

Levinas wants us to look at the reason why

we give, care, and help the others.

…that our responsibility to

others is non-
reciprocal.

DGMALEON
CONCLUSION
No human
relation is
PERFECT!

DGMALEON
However, differences are not the hindrance to
intersubjective relationship but how we
communicate, relate, and perceive each other as
human persons.

DGMALEON
 INTERSUBJECTIVITY:
Authentic Relationships
Philosophy of the Human Person

DGMALEON