Concept
Other (philosophy)
Overview
In philosophy, the Other is a fundamental concept referring to anyone or anything perceived as distinct or different from oneself. This distinction is crucial for understanding how individuals construct their own identities, as the encounter with "otherness" helps define the boundaries of the self. In phenomenology, the Other plays an important role in this self-formation, acting as a kind of mirror against which the self is reflected and understood.
The Other is not simply a neutral observer but an active participant in shaping the individual's self-image. This includes the idea of the "constitutive Other," which refers to the internal relationship between a person's essential nature (personality) and their physical embodiment (body), reflecting the interplay of internal differences within the self.
Beyond this individual level, the concept extends to broader social and political contexts. "Otherness" describes the qualities and characteristics attributed to individuals or groups perceived as outside the dominant social norm. This can include differences based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, neurodivergence, disability or any other marker of social identity. The process of Othering or Otherizing involves labeling and defining individuals or groups as the Other, often in ways that reinforce power imbalances and lead to marginalization, exclusion, and even discrimination. This act of Othering can effectively place those deemed "different" at the margins of society, denying them full participation and access to resources. Therefore, the concept of the Other is not just a philosophical abstraction but a powerful force shaping social relations and individual experiences.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Other (philosophy) is discussed.
that it is somewhat as well as somewhat else. It sets up with endless iteration the alternation between these two terms, each of which calls up the other. If we let somewhat and another, the elements of determinate Being, fall asunder, the result is that some becomes other, and this other is itself a somewhat, which then as such changes likewise, and so on _ad infinitum._ This result seems to superficial reflection…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Logic of Hegel
names the idea; states what it is; author linked in the graph; opens on it
The Church, then, knows of two kinds of life Divinely set before Her and commended to Her; in the one we walk by faith, in the other by sight; the one is the pilgrimage of time, the other is the mansion of eternity; the one is a life of toil, the other of repose; in the one we are on the way, in the other in Our Father's Home; the one is spent in the toil of action, the other in the reward of contemplation; the one…
Aquinas Thomas, On prayer and the contemplative life
names the idea; states what it is
True. Other means other than other, and different, different from the different? Yes. Then, if there are to be others, there is something than which they will be other? Certainly. And what can that be?--for if the one is not, they will not be other than the one. They will not.
Plato, Parmenides
names the idea; states what it is; opens on it
A duality could only be imagined in this way, either that at one time the one deity is active, the other at another time, or that both act simultaneously, nothing being done except by both together. The first alternative is certainly absurd for many reasons; if at the time the one deity be active the other could also be active, there is no reason why the one deity should then act and the other not; if, on the other…
Moses Maimonides, The guide for the perplexed
names the idea; states what it is
But according to Mr. Spencer there are other beliefs, relating to other things than our own subjective feelings, for which we have the same guarantee--which are, in a similar manner, invariable and necessary. With regard to these other beliefs, they cannot be necessary, since they do not always exist. There have been, and are, many persons who do not believe the reality of an external world, still less the reality…
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic
names the idea; author linked in the graph; opens on it
Philosophers who discussed Other (philosophy)
Related ideas
- Ethnicity
- Johann Gottlieb Fichte
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- Philosophy
- High culture
- Hierarchy
- Power (social and political)
- Judith Butler
- John Stuart Mill
- Jacques Lacan
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- South Africa
- False dilemma
- Postcolonialism
- Metaphysics
- Eastern world
- Autonomy
- Being and Nothingness
- Mind
- Intersubjectivity
- Anattā
- Western world
- Absolute (philosophy)
- Ontology
Place in the tradition
Part of Deconstruction.