Chernysh M.F. Dialogue as a Search for Agreement. Philosophical Sciences. 2026;69(3):12-41. https:

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: https://www.phisci.info/jour/article/view/4240 (дата обращения 13.11.2026)

Abstract

The article explores the social dimension of dialogue, which manifests itself in the joint search for truth, overcoming alienation, the formation of social institutions, the reproduction of linguistic forms of communication, and the implementation of social action. Different areas of social knowledge intersect in the study of dialogue: philosophy, sociology, and psychology. For Plato, dialogue is a way of jointly seeking truth, justice, and virtue, connecting the movement of interlocutors in space with the intersubjective movement of thought. In the philosophy of M. Buber and E. Levinas, dialogue is viewed as a relationship with the Other, which opens up the possibility of self‑knowledge and shapes the ethics of mutual responsibility. In the Russian tradition, this issue was developed in the works of M. Bakhtin, who revealed the dialogic organization of Dostoevsky’s works as an interaction of independent voices of the characters, the author, and the reader. A violation of dialogic relations leads to alienation, the forms of which are examined in the sociological concepts of R. Merton and the Marxist tradition. Alienation limits the possibility of mutual understanding, reinforces relations of dominance and subordination, and can lead to institutional domination, in which an individual becomes subordinate to a norm embodied in the Generalized Other. At the same time, dialogue creates conditions for changing social institutions, expanding the scope of social rights, and reconciling institutional norms with the experiences of individual subjects. In the concept of P. Berger and T. Luckmann, norms are reproduced and changed in the intersubjective space of everyday interactions. In modern society, internal dialogue also plays an important role, during which an individual соотносит the demands of the Generalized Other with their own experience, needs, and interests. Dialogue remains an underappreciated resource of the social sciences: on the one hand, as an independent subject of study that allows for a more precise understanding of the processes of solidarity formation, institutional change, and social development; on the other hand, as a tool of social regulation that cannot be reduced to administrative influence but is capable of creating a space for social transformation and the reconciliation of meanings, positions, and norms. Dialogue is an inherent form of social life, essential for its key areas: politics, civic self‑organization, and artistic or other forms of creative work.