SELF AND OTHER
In the area of identifying persons, throughout relationships with others, raises the question of where we are without one another. We might fail to notice ourselves without the presence of the others. In every situation that persons are exposed to in life, helps in molding the self. The reason being, the ability we have is to see ourselves from outside by trying to see what others see. Therefore, self-rotates around the generalized other. In other words, we make conclusions depending on how others perceive us based on our observation. The way we carry ourselves around others depends on the way they take us. This paper has an am to comparing and contrasting the self and others as representations of otherness.
Firstly it is paramount to note that the self and the other have got a deep relationship in the way of seeing things. This is because the idea of being the other can lead to finding the self. It is by checking the way others view us that can make us understand who we are without challenges. Mostly, people do expose the side of us; we cannot be able to see for ourselves. The thought of the other can only be abolished when there are differences. There can never be us without the others because the others make a big part of us through feelings and emotions. Other people make us realize and develop ourselves.
According to Glissant, times of pre-Christian, people of the west identified themselves with their cultures and not their nations. In my own thinking, this is a healthier way of identifying oneself since it limits the extreme nationalism. Cultures are different and unique in their ways. If we appreciate other cultures and not judge people not according to their practices, then it will be easy to come together regardless of the differences. People do understand the culture of others, so we can embrace other people’s perceptions as they embrace ours. But the moment people stand with the issue of nationality. The bond of self and others will be broken. There will be discrimination of some people discouraging the spirit of togetherness. This is very wrong because we can see our strengths and weaknesses through the eyes of others. We can conceive the other’s opacity without reproaching our opacity for them.
This does not mean that we make ourselves look like others or to make others resemble our image. We all stand for our personalities, then we will be able to relate with each other. The differences between the self and the other are what strengthen the togetherness and the closeness of the two. I must measure your solidarity with a scale that will enable me to make judgments and comparisons if, at all, I will understand and accept you. In other words, it is through oneself that one can see the reflection of the others.
The Glissant view is that the excellent relationship of consciousness of self and the other is the key in transforming as well as reshaping the societies. When the self and others stay together in harmony, then the community will have an opportunity to develop progressively. The way one person sees the other will depend on the idea that he or she judges the other. If we see them in the right direction, then we judge them wrongly. And if our measurement finds no fault in them, then we decide then rightly, Meaning there can be no the other without the self. We judge others according to the way we see them. Glissant says that I admit your existence within my system.
Plato and Aristotle are philosophers who think that exile is essential for a person’s self-fulfillment. It is like saying when a person is left all alone, then he or she will feel a sense of self-fulfillment because this person no longer has others seeing or judging him or her according to their perceptions. This person will be all alone to do what he likes and enjoys without the interaction of the others. This is a different aspect between the self and the other because it shows that the person can stand independently without being interrupted by the other.
The people in the west think that men in exile don’t feel helpless or inferior. Such a man doesn’t feel deprived of anything and thus has no burden. This means that the other for such a person doesn’t exist. A person in exile is left alone and does not expect anything from anyone. For this reason, he will stand independently without the feeling of helplessness or inferiority since furthermore; there is no one around to make him feel so, no burdens to carry or anything to think about based on the other people.
It is only through a civilization that people were able to appreciate other’s differences bit by bit, and they were able to accept them. When there is a lack of culture, it is difficult for self to embrace the other because every time, the person will only take itself to be better than the other. Self can alone stand to oppose the other where there is no civilization. Civilization is the only better way that can help one to relate with the other healthily. This is to say, it all begins by appreciating others to accept them. You can’t understand what you are opposing. These differences are what bring about strife and challenge the togetherness. Therefore, the self and the other contrast themselves where there is no civilization.
Self and others also bound by communication. One has to look for another person to get engaged in a dialogue. The self and others are united together in talks since no person can get involved in communication alone. The self and the other are bounded, but they are still distinctive. The mind of an individual remains isolated and enclosed in its world. The individuals operate as separate entities that may interact with others or may even not interact. A person can decide to live alone without also interacting with others just as we saw in the people that are in exile. It is a choice of any person to engage in conversations with others or to remain quiet with their thoughts. It is one way to decide to participate in dialogues or discussions with other people, and it is another thing to decide to stay alone.
Each person is always ready to respond to occurrences that are happening around the world and creating self-subjectivity. Thus the world is full of people, and it is made relevant by the other people that live in it. The self is what makes the other applicable and vice versa. Therefore two humans’ beings bring meaning to the world due to their involvement and relationships. The humans are launched in the world of otherness. It is through others that people get to the social, cultural world that is meaningful. However, it is quite a challenge to show the contrast between the other and the self. It is like explaining the difference that can be found between the experiencing people and reflecting the image of the same person.
We must always be in a position that is directed towards others. Lack of taking place is in itself a kind of positioning. Thus we can’t have a choice but to choose. The options can be seen in the way we talk about the way we do certain things. Each human experience is always connected to others and the future that may be close or distant. Understanding can’t be necessary without the evaluation of self. This evaluation comes as a result of how others view us generally. It is through the way people see us that we can understand our shortcomings and strengths.
Even the feelings can only are possible towards the others. The self-feelings always come about because of the relationships with the others. They are the face of the centrifugal of a human being relationship. For instance, people can love according to the way they have been loved. A person can only love himself or herself because he was also loved. It is through the history of self-love with others that it can foster a health communicative act and safe relationships. In the same manner, a person that has been through rejection by other people can’t be able to offer5affection. We offer what we receive.
All in all, the self-relating ability, of self and other, do not exist the novelty need and the effect that others carry. The self-feeling and the other’s feelings are like the two sides of the same coin. This is to say, if a person is more open to the other, the more he appears different from the other person, just like communication is in being for the other. The reason here is that the other person will be able to see the other who is being open with his life in a more profound way.
In summary, as we have discussed earlier, the self and the other builds each other. It is almost impossible to get the contrast between the person and the other. There can never be us without each other. It is how others see us that we can understand ourselves. More so, communication is only made possible where there is the self and the other. Without civilization, there can be no togetherness. Therefore when self-appreciates the other, then there is the civilization that makes healthy relationships possible. More so, as discussed earlier, our self-emotions, are also influenced by the treatments of the others towards us. Therefore the life gets a meaning where there is unity between the self and the other. It is only in exile that the person can exist without the other for self-fulfillment without inferiority feeling.
Works cited
Glissant, Édouard. “For opacity.” Poetics of Relation (1997): 189-94.
Glissant, Édouard. Poetics of relation. University of Michigan Press, 1997.
Staszak, Jean-François. “Other/otherness.” (2009)