The papers in this special section review and extend the bold, creative body of current theory and research about the intersubjectivity. From different points of view, they all show that interpersonal recognition and collaboration play as central a role in motivating and organizing personality as other motivations like sex and attachment. Taken together, the papers offer a panoramic perspective, integrating cognitive and affective neuroscience, phenomenological philosophy, early development research, and psychoanalysis. Written by leading European academics, they reflect a Continental style of investigating the theoretical implications of “scientific” data.