The inner dialogues that accompany almost every moment of our waking life, often referred to as “inner speech,” have received increasing attention from philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists since the end of the 19th century. In particular, within American Pragmatism, the idea of “dialogical self,” the sense of identity that arises from our inner conversations, has been explored in depth. However, since ancient times, these silent conversations have been the target of psycho-spiritual regimens developed within most religious traditions in order to restrain, silence, and overcome the discursive, and often wandering, mind. The goal of this article is threefold. First, I will review the relevant literature on the notion of the dialogical self. Second, I will provide an explanation for the peculiar tendency of inner speech to continue ceaselessly and be difficult to stop. Finally, I will show that in the literature of two spiritual traditions, apparently very different from each other, Christianity and Daoism, we can find remarkably similar descriptions of the kind of experience that awaits us beyond inner speech and the dialogical self.
Beyond Dialogical Self: A Study on the Inner Dialogues of the Mind
Daniele GUNETTI
First
2025-01-01
Abstract
The inner dialogues that accompany almost every moment of our waking life, often referred to as “inner speech,” have received increasing attention from philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists since the end of the 19th century. In particular, within American Pragmatism, the idea of “dialogical self,” the sense of identity that arises from our inner conversations, has been explored in depth. However, since ancient times, these silent conversations have been the target of psycho-spiritual regimens developed within most religious traditions in order to restrain, silence, and overcome the discursive, and often wandering, mind. The goal of this article is threefold. First, I will review the relevant literature on the notion of the dialogical self. Second, I will provide an explanation for the peculiar tendency of inner speech to continue ceaselessly and be difficult to stop. Finally, I will show that in the literature of two spiritual traditions, apparently very different from each other, Christianity and Daoism, we can find remarkably similar descriptions of the kind of experience that awaits us beyond inner speech and the dialogical self.
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