I enjoyed this presentation by James. Coming from a social science background I had got used to taking that reflexive stance and listening to James made me revisit it again – how much of my ways of thinking feeling and acting have been influenced by ‘the social other’ I asked myself again, the answer being – a lot!. I had forgotten how important this idea is. As I listened to James a saying from the late Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann came back to my mind – it’s from their famous book ‘The Social Construction of Reality’ – and it is this – “we become who we are addressed as by other people”. Thinking of James comments on the role of the social other in my life has made me start to reflect deeply on these influences – a start I need to continue with for the rest of the course.
