A Theory of Presupposed Reciprocal Validity: Self-Validity, Social Meaning, and the Structure of Conflict

This paper proposes the theory of presupposed reciprocal validity, a frameworkthat links human judgment, social meaning, and social conflict through a single structuralcondition. It begins from the claim that human beings construct cognition on the presupposition of their own validity before they judge what is right. This presupposed validity isneither self-esteem nor a conscious wish to be right; it is the condition under which judgment becomes possible at all. Because no ultimate ground for this presupposition canbe found within the self, individuals internalize and rely on social meanings to sustain it.Extending Berger and Luckmann’s account of internalization, the theory treats internalization not merely as society’s imposition on the individual but as the individual’s activereliance on meaning. Meaning is defined broadly as anything relied upon to reinforcepresupposed validity, ranging from states and monetary economies to everyday valuessuch as “a drink is a reward for hard work.” Social systems such as law and the state likewise presuppose their own validity without ultimate grounding, and are maintained bymembers who accept and enact them. Individuals and social systems thus sustain and reproduce each other’s validity, a relation termed presupposed reciprocal validity. Rightness isconstituted through this circular mutual reference, which accounts for its variation acrosssocieties. Finally, the paper argues that social conflicts become entrenched because criticism of a meaning is experienced as a threat to the validity of those who rely on it, turningdisputes over institutional design into a self-reinforcing cycle of attack and defense.