Third

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Third is number three in a series or one of three or more people .

Sociology and Psychoanalysis

overview

In sociological theory, “the third” is the figure who takes on new functions for communication within the interaction ( social interaction or intersubjectivity ) beyond “I” and “you” (ego and alter ego ) that have not yet been established between two interaction partners possible (intermediary, arbitrator, the beneficiary third party, the scapegoat, the schemer, the translator, etc.). In the last few years there has been a growing interest in the figure and function of the “third party”. Processing impulses from philosophy, psychoanalysis and literary studies, a position of the “third” is systematically determined in sociology , in which - fundamentally differentiated from “ego” and “old” - constitutive functions for subject formation and sociality are recognized.

Outside of sociology, the theorems of Freud and Lacan , Levinas , Serres and Girard play a central role; within sociology, in addition to the classic contributions by Simmel, there are also newer approaches to addressing the third - for example in sociological systems theory ( Luhmann's “observer”) and in the theory of rational decision ( Coleman's “agent”). Fundamental to this discussion is the distinction between social theory (how is the subject of sociological research determined; how does social work at all?) And social theory (in which society do we live?).

The reflection on the figure of the third refers first of all to the constitutive social-theoretical assumptions of the various sociological approaches. From a social theoretical point of view, these currently mostly - in different variants - refer to the ego-alter dyad (“ double contingency ”, “struggle for recognition”, “practical intersubjectivity”, “ symbolic interaction ”, “identity and alterity” etc.) as Starting point for your follow-up observations. The systematic reflection on the status of the “third party” (“the” personal third party, not “the” third party such as language or system or social order) changes the understanding of sociality and opens up new sociological observation possibilities.

Just as the category of the “other” bundles a multitude of aspects and functions (master and servant, cooperation, exchange, conflict, care), so too does the “third” (observer, agent, mediator , judge, hybrid, the “third room” ", Scapegoat," parasite ", coalition party). The “figure of the third” structurally embodies the possibility of presence / absence; insofar it forms the social-theoretical pivot point when it comes to determining the “limits of the social” and the transition from interaction (among those present) to institutionalization. In reflecting on his position, approaches from actor and system theory are linked. The gaze of the third creates differences between alter and ego and balances them out to an extent that the dyad would not be able to do on its own. The triadic position is fundamental for evoking and perceiving inequality, but also for expecting justice (neutrality, judges). In this respect, the socio-theoretical transition from “other” to “third” is also momentous for social theory.

Law

Third party within the meaning of the law is any legal subject ( natural or legal person ) who appears alongside two parties in a legal relationship (e.g. in a contract ) and who can be involved with their own rights or obligations .

The term third party does not only refer to contractual relationships. Anyone who enters into a legal relationship with the owner is also a third party (there is no need for a “second”). Third parties are therefore not necessarily dependent on the existence of two other legal subjects. A third party is anyone - also in the law of obligations - who is not the owner of a right under a contract or a property law, but who can have a relationship with such a right.

Sports

In sport , third is the third placed and thus the winner of the bronze medal . Usually, the third person is on the podium . If there is a tie, several third places can be awarded if necessary.

See also

literature

  • Doris Bachmann-Medick : Third room. Approaching a Medium of Cultural Translation and Mapping. In: Claudia Breger, Tobias Döring (Hrsg.): Figures of / the third. Exploration of cultural in-between spaces (= international research on general and comparative literary studies. Vol. 30). Rodopi, Amsterdam et al. 1998, ISBN 90-420-0592-0 , pp. 19-38.
  • Thomas Bedorf, Dimensions of the Third. Social-philosophical models between the ethical and the political (= phenomenological investigations. Vol. 16). Fink, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7705-3870-6 .
  • Thomas Bedorf, Joachim Fischer , Gesa Lindemann (ed.): Theories of the third. Innovations in sociology and social philosophy (= transitions 58). Fink, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-7705-5021-0 .
  • Claudia Breger, Tobias Döring (Ed.): Figures of / of the third. Exploration of cultural in-between spaces (= international research on general and comparative literary studies. Vol. 30). Rodopi, Amsterdam et al. 1998, ISBN 90-420-0592-0 .
  • Theodore Caplow : Two against one. Coalitions in Triads. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ 1968.
  • Eva Esslinger, Tobias Schlechtriemen, Doris Schweitzer, Alexander Zons (eds.): The figure of the third. A cultural-scientific paradigm (= Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 1971). Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-29571-7 .
  • Joachim Fischer : The third. On the anthropology of intersubjectivity. In: Wolfgang Eßbach (Hrsg.): Wir / ihr / sie. Identity and Alterity in Theory and Method (= Identities and Alterities. Vol. 2). Ergon-Verlag, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-933563-58-5 , pp. 103-138.
  • Othmar Franz Fett: The unthinkable third. Pre-Socratic beginnings of the eurogenic relationship to nature (= Perspektiven. Vol. 18). Edition Diskord, Tübingen 2000, ISBN 3-89295-693-6 .
  • Hans-Peter Krüger : Responsiveness in eccentric positionality. The thirdness, the third and the third person as philosophical minima. In: Hans-Peter Krüger, Gesa Lindemann (Ed.): Philosophical Anthropology in the 21st Century (= Philosophical Anthropology. Vol. 1). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-05-004052-1 , pp. 164-183.
  • Gesa Lindemann: The third person - the constitutive minimum of social theory. In: Hans-Peter Krüger, Gesa Lindemann (Ed.): Philosophical Anthropology in the 21st Century (= Philosophical Anthropology. Vol. 1). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-05-004052-1 , pp. 125-145.
  • Georg Simmel : Sociology. Studies on the forms of socialization. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, pp. 32-100 (5th edition. (= Collected Works. Vol. 2). Ibid 1968).

Web links

Wiktionary: Third party  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations