Establishing Second-Person Forms of Contemplative Education: An Inquiry into Four Conceptions of Intersubjectivity

Four accounts of intersubjective theory are explored as a means for providingdistinctions that support the development of second-person approaches to the emergingfield of contemplative education. I examine Martin Buber’s conception of theinterhuman, Thich Nhat Hahn’s interbeing, Christian De Quincey’s three modes ofintersubjective engagements, in addition to Wilber’s five categories of intersubjectivitywith consideration for how each will contribute to further outlining second-persondimensions of contemplative education. I then locate intersubjectivity in a broaderepistemological terrain and propose the notion of critical second-person contemplativeeducation as a type of pedagogy and approach to learning within contemplativeeducation.