Understanding the Self and Others: Explorations in intersubjectivity and interobjectivity

How do we, as human beings, come to understand ourselves and others around us? This question could not be more timely or pertinent to the issues facing humankind today. At the heart of many of our world’s most troubling political and social problems lies a divergence, and sometimes a sharp contradiction, in perspectives between nations and cultural groups. To find potential solutions to these seemingly intractable divides, we must come to understand what both facilitates and hinders a meaningful exchange of fundamental ideas and beliefs between different cultural groups. The discussions in this book aim to provide a better understanding of how we come to know ourselves and others. Bringing together a number of cutting edge researchers and practitioners in psychology and related fields, this diverse collection of thirteen papers draws on psychology, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, communications, and anthropology to explore how human beings effectively come to understand and interact with others. This volume is organised in three main sections to explore some of the key conceptual issues, discuss the cognitive processes involved in intersubjectivity and interobjectivity, and examine human relations at the level of collective processes. Understanding the Self and Others will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, developmental psychology, philosophy, communication studies, anthropology, identity studies, social and cultural theory, and linguistics.

Table of Contents:
1. Understanding Self and Others: Explorations in Intersubjectivity and Interobjectivity by Gordon Sammut, Paul Daanen, and Fathali M. Moghaddam PART I: CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS 2. What Lies Between? by Rom Harré and Gordon Sammut 3. From Inter-subjectivity, via Inter-objectivity, to Intra-objectivity: From a Determinate World of Separate Things to An Indeterminate World of Inseparable Flowing Processes by John Shotter 4. Interobjectivity as a Border: The Fluid Dynamics of "Betweenness" by Giuseppina Marsico, Kenneth R. Cabell, Jaan Valsiner and Nikita A. Kharlamov 5. Things That Help Make Us What We Are by Alan Costall PART II: INTERPERSONAL PROCESSES AND SOCIAL COGNITION 6. Intersubjectivity and the Geschwister Effekt: How Siblings Shape Infant Development by Rachel Barr 7. Characterizing Selves and Others: A Personalistic Perspective by James T. Lamiell 8. Logical Time, Symbolic Identification, and the Trans-subjective by Derek Hook 9. Others as Objects: The Possibilities and Limitations of Intersubjective Relationships by Paul Daanen and Sabrina Young PART III: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PROCESSES 10. Cultural Identity Clarity: Its Role in Intergroup Perception, Dehumanization and Intergroup Attribution by Donald M. Taylor, Regine Debrosse, Megan Cooper and Frank Kachanoff 11. Interobjective Social Values by Gordon Sammut, Stavroula Tsirogianni and Fathali M. Moghaddam 12. In the Desert with Lawrence of Arabia by Robert Schmidle 13. Social Influence by Artefact: Norms and Objects as Conflict Zones by Martin W. Bauer. Afterword by Gordon Sammut, Paul Daanen and Fathali M. Moghaddam