Chapter 4: The Crisis of Basic Concepts: Use and Danger of the Implication of Fundamental-Ontological Considerations in the Formation of Psychological Theories

In “Ruptures and Repairs in the Course of Living: Challenges to Developmental Psychology” (Chapter 3, this volume), Hviid and Villadsen aim to gain a new perspective on a fundamental topic of developmental psychology: so-called ruptures, breaks, or cuts in the life of people and the respective attempts to handle or repair these ruptures. The authors refer to the mother‒child interaction, as well as the psychotherapeutic alliance, as the main areas of investigation. Herein, the meaning of this interaction within the course of development of a human being emerging between subjectivity and intersubjectivity is stressed. Both fields of research—the mother‒child interaction and the psychotherapeutic alliance—have become central elements within developmental psychology and other areas of studies, as these ideas are central elements of occidental culture. If one aims at gaining insight into the nature of human beings, particularly into the development of human beings as they become a subject’s interaction with the world, the starting point cannot be a solipsistic subject developing completely autonomously. The exchange and the relation to other subjects, to other human beings, seem to be of decisive importance here. But as the authors have stated, “In spite of the advances in the two approaches, the interdependencies of the development of subjectivity and intersubjectivity are not fully grasped” (Hviid & Villadsen, Chapter 3, this volume). The authors aim to reflect the interrelatedness of subject and intersubjectivity. Reflecting on this notion of in-between seems to be of special importance, as human beings can only be understood in their development as a whole within the connection of both—the subject and his or her interrelatedness. Thus, the topic of being a subject and of intersubjectivity is expanded from the person to the place where these two components dynamically enter into action.