- 著者
- 山中 恵利子
- 出版者
- 日本医学哲学・倫理学会
- 雑誌
- 医学哲学 医学倫理 (ISSN:02896427)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.25, pp.110-120, 2007-10-18 (Released:2018-02-01)
We can objectively observe the speech and behavior of others but are not privy to their thinking. Even in face-to-face conversation I cannot understand everything you experience. This is the problem of intersubjectivity, which is achieved through agreement and negotiation between different, mutually independent perspectives. This paper seeks to understand the perspectives of others using A. Schutz's concept of relevance as a means of unraveling the problem of intersubjectivity. Based on records of conversations between nurses and a mother who gave birth to a disabled child and letters written by that mother, this paper explores the mother's narrative and presents it as an example of understanding others. The paper also indicates how analysis of the mother's perspective at different times using the concept of relevance is linked to ascertaining the mother's stream of consciousness.
- 著者
- 山中 恵利子
- 出版者
- 日本医学哲学・倫理学会
- 雑誌
- 医学哲学 医学倫理 (ISSN:02896427)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.23, pp.55-63, 2005-10-26 (Released:2018-02-01)
The purpose of this paper is to examine the construction of a world of subjective meaning for Mr. A, who experienced depression in middle age. As a methodological tool, I use the theory of relevance advanced by Alfred Schutz. This paper first examines how Schutz' theory explains how, in social constructivist terms, "subjective reality turns into objective reality," and clarifies the temporal status of internal time consciousness. The paper then examines Schutz' construct of different sets of interests, or relevances: topical, interpretive, and motivational.In conversations between Mr. A and the author over four years, Mr. A's "narrative" changed. According to the theory of relevance, major changes of subject are seen in the evolution of Mr. A's statements from "I cannot go to work," "I am labeled as someone who cannot succeed in work," and "I feel tense at work" to such statements as "I want to break free from this vicious circle." By examining such statements the theory of relevance is able to clarify the meaning in epoche how Mr. A perceives the problems that he faces and how he attempts to deal with them. The author shows how Schutz' concept of relevance, as an intersubjective category, is able to reduce the distance between the actor and the observer. Using the concept of relevance, the author shows that an interviewer or hearer will come to an interpretive understanding of a speaker producing meaning compositions, by way of contrapuntal analysis, while, as if an accompanist, the hearer stands close to the speaker.