Metatheorizing the Dialectic of Self and Other

Abstract

Western thought is imbued with thinking based on dichotomy and binary opposition. Embedded in this thinking, however, are not only oppositions but hierarchy. The existence of binaries suggests a struggle for predominance. One proposition must prevail, and the other must be vanquished. The fields of organization behavior and administrative theory reflect this form of rationality. The terms self and other have been cast as constituent elements of the human condition, but the presumption is that self must necessarily be privileged more than other. The authors disagree that such a privileging must occur. Instead, they contend that self and other are mutually constituted. The central focus of this article is an exploration of the self-other relationship that highlights its dialectic nature and, in so doing, provides a deeper appreciation of how these dynamics are manifested in work organizations as elements of trust, ethics, and mourning.

Integrating Ethics and Strategy: A Pragmatic Approach

“…The latter is associated with the early twentieth century works of Hegel, Engels and Fichte but it has also surfaced from time to time in various modern contributions (e.g. Alvesson and Willmott, 1992;Calori, 1999;Carr and Zanetti, 1999;Mason, 1969;Van de Ven, 1992). At its core lies the idea of a dynamic pattern of thesis, antithesis and synthesis: quite like the bi-polar components and 'types' in the framework.…”

Building Blocks of Individual Biography? Non-Governmental Organizational Communication in Reflexive Modernity

“…Binaries help to construct social movements, which "derive their significance from their relation to opposite terms" (Burke, 1969a, p. 408); ego emerges out of antagonism, and self and other are mutually constituted (Carr & Zanetti, 1999). "The rhetoric of attack becomes at the same time a rhetoric of ego-building, and the very act of assuming such a rhetorical stance becomes self-persuasive and confirmatory" (Gregg, 1971, p. 82).…”

Competing Ontologies: A Primer for Public Administration

“…Nor can we assume that there is only one correct answer to questions such as, “How should an administrator behave in relationship to others?” (Farmer 1995, 227). For example, the possibilities include relationships of dominance and submission, as in the master–slave metaphor, as well as difference without domination, as in the eastern understanding of dialectic (Carr and Zanetti 1999). These relationships rest on different ontological ground—one admits hierarchy and one does not.…”