Time in Intersubjectivity: Some Tools for Analysis

Abstract

Proper timing and other temporal factors are often viewed as important for rhythmic and synchronised social interaction. The chapter attempts to clarify what roles temporal properties play in interpersonal coordination. The tools for investigating the role of time in intersubjectivity are taken from Craver's account of explanation, which I extend to intersubjective processes. A distinction is made between causal relevance, constitutive relevance, temporal constraints and background conditions. With the help of these tools, various cases of intersubjective coordination are scrutinised: the interaction between mother and infant and Thomas Fuchs' phenomenological accounts of schizophrenia and depression, where the disturbance is supposed to involve both intersubjectivity and temporality. Thanks to these fine-grained distinctions we can give specific and different verdicts about the role of time in each particular case.