Concept of Intersubjectivity in the Society: Exploring Its Role
The central task of phenomenology is to explain the reciprocal interactions that take place during human action, situational structuring, and reality construction. That it, phenomenologists seek to make sense of the relationships between action, situation, and reality that take place in society and what is the role of intersubjectivity in it. The Phenomenology does not view any aspect as causal, but rather views all dimensions as fundamental to all others. It aims to reveal what role human awareness plays in the production of social action, social situations and social worlds. In essence, phenomenology is the belief that society is a human construction.
Intersubjectivity seeks to answers questions such as: How do we know others minds? Other selves? How is reciprocity of perspectives possible? And how is mutual understanding and communication possible? An inter-subjective world is not a private world, but it is common to all. We derive intersubjectivity as we speak and listen to each other. We share the same time and space with each other. Intersubjectivity leads to experiences and consciousness of social world.
Husserl argues that the world only makes senses because we impose meaning or order on it by constructing mental categories from our sense. Example; we identify a four-legged furniture for eating off as table, and we know where it should be placed in a household. It Focus on how people actively produce and sustain the meaning of situations. It Focuses on everyday life, that is, on mundane and commonplace activities of people throughout society and the way people’s action constitute situations.
Overall, Peter Berger & Thomas Luckmannargues Schutz gives more focus on commonsense knowledge, although reality is socially constructed. Once constructed it becomes external reality. Example, Religion may start off in our consciousness but once embodied in structure like Church. Then changes laws and expectations around us, which influences our thought of what is Right and Wrong. So, there is question of Intersubjectivity - is it has a real value or not.
