Chapter 1: Dialogical Knowing and Believing: Trust and Responsibility in the Context of Learning

We can make sense of the concepts “dialogical knowing and believing” only when we contrast them with the concepts of knowing and believing considered as achievements of the sole individual. Nevertheless, there are different forms of individualism, that is, of perspectives, in which the self represents a point of departure for the understanding of the human mind. These forms of individualism arise from different sources, and they pose specific theoretical and empirical challenges for dialogical learning. In view of this, this chapter will raise some questions that individualism poses for dialogical epistemologies, and will indicate challenges for dialogical learning.

Epistemological individualism has dominated theories of knowledge for several centuries. It presupposes that language, thought, and knowledge arise from rationality of the individual. This form of individualism has originated in philosophy; it has been adopted as a theory of knowledge in human and social sciences where it is a dominating epistemology until today.