Concept in Definition ABC

Otherness comprises a concept that encompasses the "different", that is, people who are part of other cultural spaces, and at At the same time it is an idea that allows us to establish a distinction between me and you, between us and them, one of ours and those of outside. We build our personal identity and collective from the recognition of a set of ideas, values and traditions of the family environment, but also of social environment In which we live.

However, in the building of the identity those who are different also participate, that is, individuals from other cultures. People different from one's own environment are others and in this sense we speak of otherness.

We perceive ourselves the same because there are others who are different from us. In the language Everyday allusion is made in many ways to all those individuals that make up another collective identity (the word foreigner has the same origin as the word strange, but we also say they or those referring to a group outside the our).

A concept that is part of the philosophical tradition

The idea of ​​otherness has a clear dimension philosophical and has been approached from different perspectives.

Personal self-knowledge implies recognizing the other as different and also understanding that we are other to others. This mutual recognition reminds us that we live in a plural world in which each individual has their own perspective individual.

The idea of ​​otherness helps us to keep in mind that we live in society and are part of a complex whole

In the concept of otherness we can appreciate a certain personal unfolding, since our identity goes beyond ourselves. In other words, it is me and the other at the same time.

Otherness and cultural diversity

If we think of Western culture, it is constructed in opposition to Eastern culture and the same thing happens in the opposite direction. For the fans of Real Madrid, the others are the Barça fans and the same thing happens the other way around.

When we travel we are tourists and we become foreign people, but in our daily life the foreigners are the others. These simple examples serve to emphasize the idea of ​​otherness as a concept that allows us to understand cultural differences and different perspectives.

In some cultural approaches the idea of ​​otherness is deeply rooted (for example, in nationalist positions in politics, in popular folklore or in any local exaltation, areas in which others become "strange guests").

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