Changes

==Origin==

==Origin==

[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] ōther; akin to Old High German andar other, [[Sanskrit]] antara

[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] ōther; akin to Old High German andar other, [[Sanskrit]] antara

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century Before 12th Century]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century Before 12th Century]

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

*1a : being the one (as of two or more) remaining or not included <held on with one hand and waved with the other one>  

*1a : being the one (as of two or more) remaining or not included <held on with one hand and waved with the other one>  

*5: disturbingly or threateningly [[different]] : alien, exotic  

*5: disturbingly or threateningly [[different]] : alien, exotic  

==Description==

==Description==

The '''Other''' or Constitutive Other (also the verb othering) is a key [[concept]] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_philosophy continental philosophy]; it [[opposes]] the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial [[concept]] being [[considered]]. The Constitutive Other often denotes a [[person]] Other than one’s [[self]]; hence, the Other is identified as “[[different]]”; thus the spelling often is capitalised.

The '''Other''' or Constitutive Other (also the verb othering) is a key [[concept]] in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_philosophy continental philosophy]; it [[opposes]] the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial [[concept]] being [[considered]]. The Constitutive Other often denotes a [[person]] Other than one’s [[self]]; hence, the Other is identified as “[[different]]”; thus the spelling often is capitalised.

==The idea of the Other==

==The idea of the Other==

A [[person]]'s definition of the 'Other' is part of what defines or even [[constitutes]] the [[self]] (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_(psychology) self (psychology)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_(philosophy) self (philosophy)], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-concept self-concept]) and other [[phenomena]] and cultural [[units]]. It has been used in [[social science]] to [[understand]] the [[processes]] by which societies and [[groups]] exclude 'Others' whom they want to subordinate or who do not fit into their [[society]]. The concept of 'otherness' is also integral to the [[comprehending]] of a [[person]], as people construct roles for themselves in [[relation]] to an 'other' as part of a [[process]] of [[reaction]] that is not necessarily related to [[stigmatization]] or condemnation. Othering is [[imperative]] to [[national]] [[identities]], where [[practices]] of admittance and [[segregation]] can form and sustain boundaries and national [[character]]. Othering helps distinguish between [[home]] and away, the uncertain or certain. It often involves the demonization and dehumanization of [[groups]], which further justifies attempts to civilize and exploit these 'inferior' others.

A [[person]]'s definition of the 'Other' is part of what defines or even [[constitutes]] the [[self]] (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_(psychology) self (psychology)], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_(philosophy) self (philosophy)], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-concept self-concept]) and other [[phenomena]] and cultural [[units]]. It has been used in [[social science]] to [[understand]] the [[processes]] by which societies and [[groups]] exclude 'Others' whom they want to subordinate or who do not fit into their [[society]]. The concept of 'otherness' is also integral to the [[comprehending]] of a [[person]], as people construct roles for themselves in [[relation]] to an 'other' as part of a [[process]] of [[reaction]] that is not necessarily related to [[stigmatization]] or condemnation. Othering is [[imperative]] to [[national]] [[identities]], where [[practices]] of admittance and [[segregation]] can form and sustain boundaries and national [[character]]. Othering helps distinguish between [[home]] and away, the uncertain or certain. It often involves the demonization and dehumanization of [[groups]], which further justifies attempts to civilize and exploit these 'inferior' others.

==History of the idea==

==History of the idea==

The concept that the self requires the Other to define itself is an old one and has been [[expressed]] by many writers:

The concept that the self requires the Other to define itself is an old one and has been [[expressed]] by many writers:

The German [[philosopher]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegel Hegel] was among the first to introduce the [[idea]] of the other as constituent in [[self-consciousness]]. He wrote of pre-selfconscious Man: "Each [[consciousness]] pursues the [[death]] of the other", [[meaning]] that in seeing a separateness between you and another, a [[feeling]] of [[alienation]] is created, which you try to resolve by [[synthesis]]. The resolution is depicted in Hegel's famous parable of the master [[slave]] dialectic. For a direct antecedent, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichte Fichte].

The German [[philosopher]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegel Hegel] was among the first to introduce the [[idea]] of the other as constituent in [[self-consciousness]]. He wrote of pre-selfconscious Man: "Each [[consciousness]] pursues the [[death]] of the other", [[meaning]] that in seeing a separateness between you and another, a [[feeling]] of [[alienation]] is created, which you try to resolve by [[synthesis]]. The resolution is depicted in Hegel's famous parable of the master [[slave]] dialectic. For a direct antecedent, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichte Fichte].

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husserl Husserl] used the [[idea]] as a basis for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersubjectivity intersubjectivity]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sartre Sartre] also made use of such a dialectic in ''Being and Nothingness'', when describing how the world is altered at the [[appearance]] of another [[person]], how the world now appears to orient itself around this other person. At the level Sartre presented it, however, it was without any life-threatening need for resolution, but as a [[feeling]] or [[phenomenon]] and not as a [[radical]] threat. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beauvoir Simone De Beauvoir] made use of otherness — in similar fashion to Sartre — in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Sex ''The Second Sex'']. In fact, De Beauvoir refers to Hegel's master-slave dialectic as [[analogous]], in many respects, to the [[relationship]] of [[man]] and [[woman]].

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husserl Husserl] used the [[idea]] as a basis for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersubjectivity intersubjectivity]. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sartre Sartre] also made use of such a dialectic in ''Being and Nothingness'', when describing how the world is altered at the [[appearance]] of another [[person]], how the world now appears to orient itself around this other person. At the level Sartre presented it, however, it was without any life-threatening need for resolution, but as a [[feeling]] or [[phenomenon]] and not as a [[radical]] threat. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beauvoir Simone De Beauvoir] made use of otherness — in similar fashion to Sartre — in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Sex ''The Second Sex'']. In fact, De Beauvoir refers to Hegel's master-slave dialectic as [[analogous]], in many respects, to the [[relationship]] of [[man]] and [[woman]].

The French psychoanalyst [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Lacan Jacques Lacan] and the Lithuanian-French philosopher [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_L%C3%A9vinas Emmanuel Lévinas] were instrumental in coining contemporary usage of "the Other," as radically other. Lacan articulated the Other with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Symbolic symbolic order] and [[language]]. Levinas connected it with the scriptural and [[traditional]] [[God]], in The Infinite Other.

The French psychoanalyst [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Lacan Jacques Lacan] and the Lithuanian-French philosopher [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_L%C3%A9vinas Emmanuel Lévinas] were instrumental in coining contemporary usage of "the Other," as radically other. Lacan articulated the Other with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Symbolic symbolic order] and [[language]]. Levinas connected it with the scriptural and [[traditional]] [[God]], in The Infinite Other.

[[Ethically]], for Levinas, the "Other" is superior or prior to the [[self]]; the mere [[presence]] of the Other makes demands before one can respond by helping them or ignoring them. This [[idea]] and that of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face-to-face face-to-face] encounter were re-written later, taking on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrida Derrida]'s points made about the impossibility of a [[pure]] [[presence]] of the Other (the Other could be other than this [[pure]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterity alterity] first encountered), and so issues of [[language]] and [[representation]] arose. This "re-write" was accomplished in part with Levinas' analysis of the distinction between "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_saying_and_the_said the saying and the said]" but still maintaining a priority of [[ethics]] over [[metaphysics]].

[[Ethically]], for Levinas, the "Other" is superior or prior to the [[self]]; the mere [[presence]] of the Other makes demands before one can respond by helping them or ignoring them. This [[idea]] and that of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face-to-face face-to-face] encounter were re-written later, taking on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrida Derrida]'s points made about the impossibility of a [[pure]] [[presence]] of the Other (the Other could be other than this [[pure]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterity alterity] first encountered), and so issues of [[language]] and [[representation]] arose. This "re-write" was accomplished in part with Levinas' analysis of the distinction between "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_saying_and_the_said the saying and the said]" but still maintaining a priority of [[ethics]] over [[metaphysics]].

Levinas talks of the Other in terms of [[insomnia]] and [[wakefulness]]. It is an ''ecstasy'', or exteriority toward the Other that forever remains beyond any attempt at full capture, this otherness is interminable (or [[infinite]]); even in murdering another, the otherness remains, it has not been negated or [[controlled]]. This "infiniteness" of the Other will allow Levinas to derive other aspects of [[philosophy]] and [[science]] as secondary to this [[ethic]]. Levinas writes:

Levinas talks of the Other in terms of [[insomnia]] and [[wakefulness]]. It is an ''ecstasy'', or exteriority toward the Other that forever remains beyond any attempt at full capture, this otherness is interminable (or [[infinite]]); even in murdering another, the otherness remains, it has not been negated or [[controlled]]. This "infiniteness" of the Other will allow Levinas to derive other aspects of [[philosophy]] and [[science]] as secondary to this [[ethic]]. Levinas writes:

The "Other", as a general term in [[philosophy]], can also be used to mean the [[unconscious]], [[silence]], insanity, the other of [[language]] (i.e., what it refers to and what is unsaid), etc.

The "Other", as a general term in [[philosophy]], can also be used to mean the [[unconscious]], [[silence]], insanity, the other of [[language]] (i.e., what it refers to and what is unsaid), etc.

There may also arise a [[tendency]] towards [[relativism]] if the Other, as pure [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterity alterity], leads to a notion that ignores the commonality of [[truth]]. Likewise, issues may arise around non-ethical uses of the term, and related terms, that reinforce divisions.

There may also arise a [[tendency]] towards [[relativism]] if the Other, as pure [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterity alterity], leads to a notion that ignores the commonality of [[truth]]. Likewise, issues may arise around non-ethical uses of the term, and related terms, that reinforce divisions.

==The Other in gender studies==

==The Other in gender studies==

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_De_Beauvoir Simone De Beauvoir] changed the Hegelian notion of the Other, for use in her description of [[male]]-dominated [[culture]]. According to her, it treats woman as the Other in relation to man. The Other has thus become an important [[concept]] for studies of the [[sex]]-[[gender]] [[system]]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Warner Michael Warner] argues that:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_De_Beauvoir Simone De Beauvoir] changed the Hegelian notion of the Other, for use in her description of [[male]]-dominated [[culture]]. According to her, it treats woman as the Other in relation to man. The Other has thus become an important [[concept]] for studies of the [[sex]]-[[gender]] [[system]]. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Warner Michael Warner] argues that:

<blockquote>the [[modern]] [[system]] of [[sex]] and [[gender]] would not be possible without a disposition to [[interpret]] the [[difference]] between genders as the difference between [[self]] and ''Other'' ... having a sexual object of the [[opposite]] [[gender]] is taken to be the [[normal]] and paradigmatic form of an interest in the Other or, more generally, others.</blockquote>

<blockquote>the [[modern]] [[system]] of [[sex]] and [[gender]] would not be possible without a disposition to [[interpret]] the [[difference]] between genders as the difference between [[self]] and ''Other'' ... having a sexual object of the [[opposite]] [[gender]] is taken to be the [[normal]] and paradigmatic form of an interest in the Other or, more generally, others.</blockquote>

Thus, according to Warner, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freud Freudian] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacan Lacanian] [[psychoanalysis]] hold the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosexist heterosexist] view that if one is attracted to people of the same [[gender]] as one's [[self]], one fails to distinguish self and other, identification and [[desire]]. This is a "regressive" or an "arrested" [[function]]. He further argues that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronormativity heteronormativity] covers its own narcissistic investments by projecting or displacing them on queerness.

Thus, according to Warner, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freud Freudian] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacan Lacanian] [[psychoanalysis]] hold the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosexist heterosexist] view that if one is attracted to people of the same [[gender]] as one's [[self]], one fails to distinguish self and other, identification and [[desire]]. This is a "regressive" or an "arrested" [[function]]. He further argues that [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronormativity heteronormativity] covers its own narcissistic investments by projecting or displacing them on queerness.

De Beauvoir calls the Other the minority, the least [[favored]] one and often a [[woman]], when compared to a man, "for a man [[represents]] both the positive and the neutral, as indicated by the common use of man to designate [[human being]]s in general; whereas [[woman]] represents only the [[negative]], defined by limiting criteria, without reciprocity". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Friedan Betty Friedan] supported this [[thought]] when she interviewed [[women]] and the [[majority]] of them identified themselves in their role in the [[private]] [[sphere]], rather than addressing their own [[personal]] achievements. They [[automatically]] identified as the Other without knowing. Although the Other may be [[influenced]] by a socially constructed [[society]], one can [[argue]] that society has the [[power]] to change this [[creation]] (Haslanger).

De Beauvoir calls the Other the minority, the least [[favored]] one and often a [[woman]], when compared to a man, "for a man [[represents]] both the positive and the neutral, as indicated by the common use of man to designate [[human being]]s in general; whereas [[woman]] represents only the [[negative]], defined by limiting criteria, without reciprocity". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Friedan Betty Friedan] supported this [[thought]] when she interviewed [[women]] and the [[majority]] of them identified themselves in their role in the [[private]] [[sphere]], rather than addressing their own [[personal]] achievements. They [[automatically]] identified as the Other without knowing. Although the Other may be [[influenced]] by a socially constructed [[society]], one can [[argue]] that society has the [[power]] to change this [[creation]] (Haslanger).

In an effort to dismantle the notion of the Other, Cheshire Calhoun proposed a deconstruction of the word "woman" from a subordinate association and to reconstruct it by proving women do not need to be rationalized by male dominance.[2] This would contribute to the idea of the Other and minimize the hierarchal connotation this word implies.

In an effort to dismantle the notion of the Other, Cheshire Calhoun proposed a deconstruction of the word "woman" from a subordinate association and to reconstruct it by proving women do not need to be rationalized by male dominance.[2] This would contribute to the idea of the Other and minimize the hierarchal connotation this word implies.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Said Edward Said] applied the feminist notion of the Other to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism colonized] peoples (specifically, in Said's work, Middle Easterners and Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular).

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Said Edward Said] applied the feminist notion of the Other to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism colonized] peoples (specifically, in Said's work, Middle Easterners and Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular).

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarojini_Sahoo Sarojini Sahoo], an Indian feminist writer, agrees with De Beauvoir that [[women]] can only [[free]] themselves by “[[thinking]], taking [[action]], working, creating, on the same terms as [[men]]; instead of seeking to disparage them, she declares herself their [[equal]]." She disagrees, however, that though [[women]] have the same [[status]] to men as [[human beings]], they have their own [[identity]] and they are [[different]] from men. They are "others" in real definition, but this is not in [[context]] with Hegelian definition of “others”. It is not always due to man’s "active" and "subjective" demands. They are the others, unknowingly accepting the subjugation as a part of "[[subjectivity]]".

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarojini_Sahoo Sarojini Sahoo], an Indian feminist writer, agrees with De Beauvoir that [[women]] can only [[free]] themselves by “[[thinking]], taking [[action]], working, creating, on the same terms as [[men]]; instead of seeking to disparage them, she declares herself their [[equal]]." She disagrees, however, that though [[women]] have the same [[status]] to men as [[human beings]], they have their own [[identity]] and they are [[different]] from men. They are "others" in real definition, but this is not in [[context]] with Hegelian definition of “others”. It is not always due to man’s "active" and "subjective" demands. They are the others, unknowingly accepting the subjugation as a part of "[[subjectivity]]".

==Some Other quotations==

==Some Other quotations==

* The [[poet]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud Arthur Rimbaud] may be the earliest to [[express]] the [[idea]]: "Je est un autre" [I is another].

* The [[poet]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud Arthur Rimbaud] may be the earliest to [[express]] the [[idea]]: "Je est un autre" [I is another].

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard Søren Kierkegaard] argued that others, the crowd, is "untruth", and stressed the importance of the [[individual]].

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard Søren Kierkegaard] argued that others, the crowd, is "untruth", and stressed the importance of the [[individual]].

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche], in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gay_Science The Gay Science], phrased it thus: "You are always a different person."

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche], in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gay_Science The Gay Science], phrased it thus: "You are always a different person."

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure] described [[language]] as, in Calvin Thomas' words, a "differential system without positive terms".

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure] described [[language]] as, in Calvin Thomas' words, a "differential system without positive terms".

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Lacan Jacques Lacan] argued that ego-formation occurs through mirror-stage misrecognition, and his theories were applied to politics by Althusser. As the later Lacan said: "The I is always in the field of the Other."

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Lacan Jacques Lacan] argued that ego-formation occurs through mirror-stage misrecognition, and his theories were applied to politics by Althusser. As the later Lacan said: "The I is always in the field of the Other."

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Levinas Emmanuel Levinas], on the other hand, saw apprehension of the other as the basis for ethics, and as a limit on ontology.

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Levinas Emmanuel Levinas], on the other hand, saw apprehension of the other as the basis for ethics, and as a limit on ontology.

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre]'s character Garcin, in the play Huis clos (No Exit), states that "Hell is others," or, alternatively, "Hell is other people." ("L'enfer, c'est les Autres.")

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre]'s character Garcin, in the play Huis clos (No Exit), states that "Hell is others," or, alternatively, "Hell is other people." ("L'enfer, c'est les Autres.")

==Bibliography==

==Bibliography==

* Levinas, Emmanuel (1974). Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence. (Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence).

* Levinas, Emmanuel (1974). Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence. (Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence).

#"Otherwise than Being", p.159

#"Otherwise than Being", p.159

#" McCann, 339

#" McCann, 339

#" "http://sarojinisahoo.blogspot.com"

#" "https://sarojinisahoo.blogspot.com"

==External links==

==External links==

* [http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/rww03/othering.htm Definitions of Other/Othering]

* [https://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/rww03/othering.htm Definitions of Other/Othering]

[[Category: Philosophy]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]