Being We

Abstract What does it take to constitute a we with others and how does feeling, thinking, and acting as part of a we, transform one’s sense of self, one’s relation to others, and the way one experiences the world? Is individual subjectivity something that necessarily requires a communal grounding or does a we-relationship always presuppose a plurality of pre-existing selves? What kind of understanding of and relation to others is required if a we is to emerge? You can constitute a we together with somebody you hardly know, your partner, your family, your friends, your professional group, your national community, and global humanity. But these are different kinds of we. How do they differ, and what is the relation and difference between a dyadic we, a triadic we, and a transgenerational we? Questions regarding the ontological, epistemological, and social character of we are not only of contemporary societal relevance but are also questions that were intensively discussed by early phenomenological philosophers such as Husserl, Reinach, Stein, Scheler, Walther, Gurwitsch, and Schutz. Drawing on and engaging with ideas, distinctions, and analyses found in these historical resources, the book combines historical scholarship and systematic theorizing. It breaks new ground by interweaving work on selfhood and first-personal experience, social cognition and collective intentionality, offers a much-needed cross fertilization between philosophy and theoretical considerations in the social sciences (sociology, anthropology, and social psychology), and provides a novel account of the complex interrelation between we, you, and I.