Otherness: the Most Essential Component of Intercultural Ethics: A Transdisciplinary Study of the Other

This paper engages in a transdisciplinary approach to and an intercultural perspective on the phenomenon of ‘otherness’ at the intersection of Ethics، Esthetics، and Cultural Studies. One of the most important contributions to the understanding of otherness is the careful deconstruction of dichotomies and generalizations. It also gives an example of intercultural understanding of otherness by a transdisciplinary deconstruction of the racial-esthetic black-white dichotomy. Since a transdisciplinary approach will be exploited for an intercultural topic the paper has to explore en passant the concepts of multi، inter and transculturality and – disciplinarity. Besides its philosophical rootedness the paper additionally utilizes the first person singular accounts and personal intercultural experience.