Semantic approach to the conception of otherness

The article deals with the phenomenon of otherness which attracts strong attention among the many representatives of modern theoretical culture, especially among those who share the methodogical positions of postmodern thinking and meet with approval a cognitive particularism. The concepts of “Other” and otherness are subjected to a more detailed examination in the article. It ends with the conlusion that the phenomenon of otherness cannot be properly grasped independently of the process of interpretation and experience which contains the general knowledge, skills, and values and constitutes a relatively stable semantic “nucleus” of personality. It is stressed that phenomena of otherness and identity or sameness do not manifest themselves in the absolute forms