Intersubjectivity awareness that the other is a person

thoughts and feelings.

Intersubjectivity- It refers to shared ● Empathy enables us to experience
meanings constructed by people in their another person’s emotions, such as
interactions with each other. happiness, anger, and sadness.
❑ Intersubjectivity is the philosophical ● Sympathy is “feeling with”, while
concept of the interaction between the empathy is “feeling in”
“self” and the “other”. It is the mutual ● Availability- the willingness of a person
recognition of each other as persons. to be present and be at disposal of
❑ It refers to the shared awareness, and another.
understanding among persons. It is made
possible by the awareness of the self and The Ethics of Care is an ethical theory that
the other. emphasizes the moral dimension of
relationship and interactions.
Jean-Paul Sartre ❑ This moral perspective encourages
❑ Jean Paul Sartre, explains that when individuals to help other people, most
you look at a especially the vulnerable.
person, the act of objectification allows
you to capture Rene Descartes
that person’s freedom to be what he or ❑ An advocate of individualism.
she wants to ❑ As a proponent of the doctrine of
be. That is, you are limiting a person’s individualism, he resolved to doubt
possibilities by a absolutely everything that could possibly
look. be doubted--in the hope of thereby
❑ This is evident when you stereotype or finding something that was beyond doubt.
label a person (“Doubt everything that can be doubted”)
based on his or her appearance or certain ❑ According to him there is one thing
actions. that cannot be doubted, and that is
thinking.
Totalization
● TOTALIZATION occurs when one limit ● “Seeming”- actions where an individual
the other to a set of rational presents himself or herself in a certain
categories, be they racial, sexual or way when dealing with others. Persons
otherwise. One totalize the other take on “roles” or act out characters when
when one claim he/ she already know dealing with certain people or when in
who is that person before they certain situations.
can even speak to. ● There may be instances when people
behave a certain way in order to
Edmund Husserl intentionally deceive or manipulate other
Edmund Husserl believes that people.
intersubjectivity is more than just shared
understanding, but it is the capability to ❖ Most human interactions, however,
put oneself in the place where the other are not based on deception. Since our
is. human nature derives us to uphold
❑ Intersubjectivity occurs when people dignity and goodness, our interactions
undergo acts of empathy because an with others are also geared towards what
intersubjective experience is highly is good and beneficial. These lead human
empathic. This happens when people put to strive to achieve deeper and more
themselves in the shoes of others. substantial interactions and relations with
●Empathy- the ability to share emotions. other people. This deeper and more
This emotion is driven by a person’s genuine interaction is called dialogue.
● Dialogue- an interaction between Examples:
persons that happens through speech, 1. How oppressive employers treat their
expressions, and body language. workers like machines or robots who are
● Dialogue is not confined to words alone, immune to physical, verbal, psychological,
actions, gestures and other expressions and emotional abuse
may be used to convey a person’s inner 2. Any relationship which has one party
life. reducing the other to a status of an
● A dialogue occurs when two persons object:
“open up” to each other and give and a) bully who treats a person with disability
receive one another in their encounter. as an object of his amusement
b) a liquor company using body of women
as their advertisement to improve sales,
II-Recognizing and Relating to Others c) partners or friends treating each other
as objects and means to satisfy their self-
❑ Martin Buber, a Jewish philosopher interest and desires in so-called "friends
had a great interest in the study of with benefits" type of relationships.
relating ourselves to others.
❑ He said that “I” or yourself, can only be Objectification of women in advertising
realized through recognition of “others.”
❑ The “I” cannot be aware of its “I-It” relationship
uniqueness and existence without ❑ This kind of relationship results into
encountering the “other.” what we call alienation.
❑ It happens when human relationships
Several ways by which we relate to are inauthentic, deceptive and
others (according to Buber) The “I-I” exploitative. It arises when a person
relationship ceases to view the other as a distinct or
❑ “I-I” relationship in which people make authentic person and merely considers
themselves the center of their world. the other person as a mere object or a
❑ Talking to other people do not interest means to satisfy personal interests.
them and if they talk to others, it is the “I” ❑ Alienation is a disorientating sense of
who will be the center of the exclusion and separation and if left
conversation. unaddressed, will discount the humanity
❑ They don't really listen to what others and dignity of a person that leads to
are sharing. dehumanization.

“I-It” relationship “I-Thou” relationship

❑ “I-It” relationship is the second type of ❑ It is in this kind of human relations that
relationship. genuine sharing of one another takes
❑ There are people that treat the other place.
people into the status of an object—an It. ❑ It is in this type of relationship that the
❑ Examples: other is treated as distinctly other, the I
1. Researchers who have indigenous treats the person as a Thou (You)—-as
people as their participants. They are very another person who is different from the
prone to reducing the other into mere It, I; one has a different set of interests,
i.e. as mere objects of investigation. visions, beliefs, values, and
2. In the medical field when practitioners characteristics.
look at their patients as objects of ❑ The center of this relationship is a
investigation. genuine form of conversation: a dialogue.
❑ There are also “I-It” relations where
the I clearly has bad intent on the other, Authentic Dialogue
treating the other as mere It or object.
❑Authentic dialogue is a form of trust, hope, and critical thinking.
interpersonal communication which Therefore, dialogue becomes the sign and
occurs when people recognize that they the central concept of the true education,
are part of a greater whole and can relate “without dialogue there is no
with others within the whole. communication, and without
❑In some cases, non-verbal dialogical communication, there can be no true
relations are not only the more education”.
appropriate means of conversation, but
considered as a more profound form of
conversation.
❑ I-Thou relationship for Buber is the Recap
experience of being through conversation  Intersubjectivity is the
in communion with the other; and here, philosophical concept of the
the other may not necessarily be a human interaction between the “self”
being. It could be your dog, or your tree, and the “other”. It is the mutual
or God. recognition of each other as
❑ In line with this, we must remember persons.
that a privileged form of relationship is  Ways we relate to others:
the 1. “I-I relationship”
I-Thou relationship. This relationship 2. “I-It relationship”
involves effort. 3. “I-Thou relationship
❑ Martin Heidegger argued that  1.Empathy
humankind is a conversation.  2. Availability
❑ Conversation is more than just a simple  3. Ethics of Care
talk but rather a dialogue. It means that  Authentic Dialogue
humanity is gradually accustomed to
communication about Being. FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON
❑ Language, as one of the controls of
human, creates human world. Language is 1. FREEDOM- Intrinsic and essential
a tool for communication, information, property of the person.
and social collaboration. ▪ This means that the human person by
❑ For Heidegger, all conversations are nature is a free being and that it is in his
really one conversation, the subject of or her nature to seek freedom.
which is Being. A conversation is creative, ▪ An important indication of human
expressive, and profound that allows freedom is the ability to make choices and
humanity to exist as more than objects. perform actions.
We are human beings who sincerely care ▪ Our freedom to act sets us apart from
more than acquiring information and other beings.
satisfaction.
❑ According to Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy 2. FREEDOM- understood as the power
of the Oppressed”, dialogue is the to be what you want to be and the ability
encounter between men, mediated by the to decide and create yourself.
people in order to transform the world. ▪ INHERENT TRAITS:
❑ For him, dialogue is not just simply an  Physical attributes
interaction between people to explore the  Temperament ( control over
world together, it is also a sign of one`s actions, thoughts or
freedom, equality, and responsibility in feelings)
discovering and transforming the world of ▪ CHARACTERISTIC that define our
every human being. personality are often product of our
❑ True dialogue cannot exist unless the CHOICES. ▪ NATURE OF HUMAN PERSON
partners engage in love, humility, faith, gives the ability to imagine that future.
▪ FREEDOM gives you the ability to strive her a favor not to engage in a boyfriend
to achieve that goal. relationship.

3. FREEDOM is rooted in the Human 4. FREEDOM

person`s ▪ gives us the choice to undertake one of
▪ Self Determination these possible actions. Enables us to come
▪ Exercise of Intellect up with new choices.
▪ Free will ▪ entails certain responsibilities.
This means that person`s every action is ▪ requires a degree of control from the
freely determined and these actions person who exercise it.
define him or her.
MORE FREE if exercising of controlling
What makes us free? How does freedom over himself or herself.
shape our experience? LESS FREE if controlled by other forces not
There are two elements that define our by himself or herself.
freedom:
▪Voluntariness - It refers to the ability of a DEHUMANIZING ACT:
person to act out of his or her own free ▪ Person who are denied their freedom by
will and self-determination. other individuals, groups, and institutions.
▪Responsibility - It refers to the person ▪ Slavery
being accountable for his or her actions ▪ Imprisoned
and their consequences. ▪ Person whom he or she wronged

VOLUNTARINESS AND RESPONSIBILITY REMEMBER!

▪ go hand in hand in determining a Freedom has various perspectives.
person`s freedom. Freedom is a gift that should not be
▪ gives our actions and experiences a squandered but taken as a wonderful gift
whole new meaning. that must be nurtured and protected
without imposing the rights or freedom of
What elements that define our freedom others. Therefore, it is not enough that
would you apply in the following the human being is free but that one is
situation? conscious of one’s responsibility for the
1. Samuel is carrying a heavy load of consequence of one’s choices.
books along the hallway when he
suddenly loses his balance and drops all
the books. As his classmate what you will
do.
2. Watching meteor garden while my
mother doing chores. KINDS OF FREEDOM
3. Helping my classmates in studying but ❖ PHYSICAL FREEDOM refer to the
during the exam he had difficulty in absence of any physical restraint. The
remembering what we`ve review and he person has the freedom of mobility to go
is asking help while the exam is going on. where she wants to go. He or she is not
4. Richie want to join his “barkada” on impeded in his or her actions by any
beach overnight but his father won`t physical force. Granted that the person
allow him to go out with his group. And has natural limitations, physical freedom
that scheduled date his father has a allows him or he to act and move in a
business trip. determined manner. You cannot be
5. Roxanne is a grade 12 student and she everywhere at once, but your freedom
had a boyfriend without the knowledge of allows you to move from one place to
her parents. But one day her parents ask
another and to go wherever you want to  We are born into human life, we
go. grow and age, and we eventually
❖ PSYCHOLOGICAL FREEDOM- also called die. This paradox defines the
freedom of choice. The person is free to uniqueness of human existence.
perform actions that he or she considers  We must embrace the fact that
right and wise. A person is also free to act death is an integral part of our
or not to act. Psychological freedom is life.
innate and cannot be denied a person. No  Acceptance of our temporality
outside force or influence can compel a can give us a clearer purpose and
person to take action against his or her focus on our activities.
will.
❖ MORAL FREEDOM- refers to using How I should live my life before it finally
freedom in a manner that upholds human ends?
dignity and goodness. Freedom is not an  Self-determination is the capacity
object that a person may use in whatever to choose and act for oneself. A
way or she pleases. A person must use his person can still exercise freedom
or her freedom to grow as a person. in choosing how to face the
reality of death in their lives.
ELEMENTS THAT DEFINE FREEDOM  We can choose to spend our lives
❖ VOLUNTARINESS- refers to the ability doing good and reasonable
of a person to act out of his or her own things. The person is the author
free will and self determination. and protagonist who determines
- Free acts which can be assigned a the development and conclusion
corresponding moral value. of his/ her story.
❖ RESPONSIBILITY- refers to the person  What is the end of this life?
being accountable for his of her actions 1. Terminus which means the full stop or
and their consequences. end of a line. For them, life ends and
- Can also have positive or negative nothing follows.
meaning and it goes hand in hand with 2. Telos which means “goal, purpose, or
voluntarism in determining the morality fulfillment”. Death is not the goal of life
of an action.  Man is put on this earth to live a
❖ VOLUNTARINESS AND RESPONSIBILITY- meaningful life, to be virtuous and
go hand in hand in determining a person`s achieve excellence
freedom. - gives our actions and  We can look at two experiences
experiences a whole new meaning. which make us reflect on the
meaning of life: happiness and
Human Persons as Oriented Towards suffering.
Their Impending Death
What makes you happy?
How does the reality of death define our  Ancient Greek philosophy
lives? considers happiness as an
 Death is commonly understood as achievement and must be gained
the end of bodily functions which by living a productive and moral
signals the end of a person’s life. life.
 It also refers to the separation of  Happiness is a “whole-life
the body and the spirit. satisfaction” based on our
 The body, being material, is evaluation of our overall life
bound by laws of time and space experiences.
and is subject to growth, death,  Happiness is a state of being and
and decay. not merely an emotional
 experience or a chosen mental  Reflecting on the reality of death
attitude. enables us to think of how we can
best live a meaningful life.
The goods or sources of happiness  We can strive to leave behind a
 Noble good is one which is legacy either in the form of an
pursued for its own sake; it is inheritance, a reputation, or a
good in itself (Examples: love & significant achievement.
friendship)  Because of our freedom, how we
 Useful good is considered good so choose to live our lives is entirely
long as it serves as a means to an up to us.
end; its goodness is found only  Life is a gift given to each person
from what it can provide and it is important to turn this life
(Example: money) into a gift for others as well
 Pleasurable good is good so long
as it provides some form of
pleasure, though it does not have
to be physical (Netflix
subscription, Mobile Legends)
Real happiness can be found in more
permanent and meaningful things.

Why do we suffer?
 Suffering takes place when we
patiently endure unpleasantness,
discomfort, and pain It may come
from:
1. Physical suffering (discomfort, hunger,
distress, & pain)
2. Mental suffering (depression, anxiety,
fear, loneliness & grief)
 Sufferings are necessary, without
it, we are unable to grow and
improve.
 Remember that difficulties are not
without reason

How do happiness, suffering, and death

give meaning to your life?
 The pursuit of happiness requires
that we go through the effort to
achieve it. Efforts are often
marked by difficulties and
discouragement.
 The reality of death means that
our existence is unique and that
we will not always get another
chance to do the things we want
in this life. Therefore, we should
not easily give up on the pursuit
of good things.