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Document Details :

Title: Toward a Phenomenology of Difference and Belonging
Author(s): SELIGMAN, Adam B.
Journal: Etudes phénoménologiques - Phenomenological Studies
Volume: 7    Date: 2023   
Pages: 225-257
DOI: 10.2143/EPH.7.0.3291062

Abstract :
This article presents difference and belonging as two contradictory yet essential aspects of human good and wellbeing. The need for difference is necessary to our very cognitive grasp of the world through the isolation of separate bits of information; just as the need for belonging provides the context which frames and makes sense of this information. Both cognitive as well as emotional aspects of each push us however in disparate and antithetical directions with profound implications on how we deal with knowledge, with social boundaries and ultimately with one another. Special attention is paid to the role of trust and confidence in human relations as these are shaped and structured by both difference and belonging.

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