This thesis aims to develop an understanding of intersubjectivity in relation to the implicate order as proposed by the physicist David Bohm (1980). Intersubjectivity is briefly to be understood as intersubjective fields, but this term is readily replaced in chapter 2. The implicate order is a multidimensional higher reality from which all matter, the explicate order, and consciousness is projected through and in turn serves as a substitute for intersubjective fields, as the implicate order encompasses undivided wholeness; everything that was, is and is going to be is enfolded through this order. As all observable elements in the universe are regarded as projections of the implicate order non-causality and non-locality (chapter 2.3.2) prove central terms in developing psychological models and theories on a metaphysical ontological foundation. The human is regarded as a ‘sub-totality’ meaning we are part of undivided wholeness. This further question the argument of assuming subjective experience as confined within the human body and allows for understanding experience unfolding through the implicate order, meaning that subjective experience is not localized to a particular human being and is therefore fundamentally regarded as intersubjective.
Existential phenomenology is used as a bridge between the world of physics and that of psychology through the work of Ernesto Spinelli (2015). This allows for the development of three levels of existence: the implicate order, worlding and worldview. The explicate order is substituted with worldview, as the latter term is developed in understanding human meaning-making on a structural level regarding embodied existential insecurities (see chapter 3.4.6). Worlding encompasses the implicate order unfolding into experience on a pre-reflective level, which cannot be explained through language, as such an act will inherently objectify worlding on a worldview level.
The thesis is situated directly within cultural psychology through dynamic semiotic field theory as proposed by Branco & Valsiner (2010) with an emphasis on intersubjectivity and critique of lacking social dimensions in the original model. Dialogue is emphasized in its original meaning ‘through meaning’, giving emphasis to worlding unfolding through the implicate order. The structural constituents of worlding and worldview and their dialogue in-between are depicted in figures 4.1, 4.3 and 4.6. The sublime is further understood as a mediator in the transformative process of worldview as discussed in chapters 4.5 and 4.6.
This thesis calls for understanding theories as worldviews that are deeply contextualized and emphasizes the creative process of both psychological research and therapy.