Other And Self To speak of dialogue is to speak of a means...

Other And Self To speak of dialogue is to speak of a means by which the gap between other and self may be bridged. If the dialogue is to be effective for the sort of transformation of which Plato speaks, it may be a useful reminder to think of bridging the gap from other to self instead of the more common phrase, 'self and other', because dialogue is not a means to impose ourselves on others, but to welcome them.

Dialogue requires invitation, and for Muslims there is more than sufficient instruction in Islam about the proper behavior (adab) involved in offering an invitation and hosting guests. In dialogue, however, we are both hosts and guests. The other invites us to partake in the banquet of one’s own ideas, values and aspirations, and we invite the stranger to ours. When we listen, we must observe the manners of the guest, and when we speak, the manners of the host.

This is a very delicate business, for if good manners are breached by either participant, dialogue breaks down. If dialogue as such is difficult between two persons, the difficulties are multiplied when we try to imagine a dialogue among civilizations. To direct attention to another civilization is to consider the many individual persons of that civilization as a mass in which particular nuances are missed and a common set of socially determined values and attitudes are lumped together.

The alien civilization resists our attempts to engage it in dialogue, because it is incapable of respecting the rules of proper behavior. It becomes what Robert Grudin calls 'The Mass Other': “The Mass Other” becomes an incorporated giant, firm in its tastes and unified in its intentions. To this extent, “The Mass Other” has identity without soul, dominion without compassion.

It has dominion because it is a consolidation of social power; it has no sympathy for others because it has no awareness of itself. It is a monster, a cold smug staring face, the brazen image of a self­ protective system. This image speaks but does not listen. Our relationship to it is completely no dialogic, because its power lies in the denial of dialogue.

It harangues us with official discourse but shrinks and vanishes at the threat of response.[^3] In order for dialogue to take place, we will need to find another other. Production And Imitation In a metaphorical sense, all of the products of a civilization may be considered its speech.