Dialogic Existentialism and Reflective Processes

Human individuals are in a state of constant dialogue with themselves and/or with others enabling them to experience a dialogic existence. Such dialogues enable the formation of the self and sustain a presence for it in the social world. Building on G. H. Mead’s theory of the self and Mikhail Bakhtin’s conception of the rejoinder, we explore how responses and rejoinders function not only to assign meaning but to affirm existence itself. We propose that the acts of addressing another, receiving a response, and engaging in a rejoinder provide the foundation for an individual’s social being and existential reality. Through the analysis of direct dialogues, reflective inner conversations, and engagements with the material and natural world, we delineate a dialogic paradigm of human interaction. We examine varied contexts, including conversations, debates, emotional disputes, and dialogues with pets, nature, and art. In each, the presence of the self is negotiated, affirmed, or threatened through dialogic processes. The absence of a rejoinder signals existential negation, yet the reflective consciousness can substitute as interlocutor in the absence of others. By drawing together interactionist theory, dialogism, and examples from literature and everyday life, we show that to exist socially and existentially is to participate in an ongoing, multifaceted dialogue with others, with the world, and with oneself.