This article deals with the issue of how to establish an authentic community of inquiry. I propose the introduction of a distinction between two stages of the community of inquiry: the stage of an emergent community of inquiry and the stage of an established community of inquiry. Further on, I propose an analysis of the structure of intentions and goals in the community of inquiry using Elster's concept of "states that are essentially by-products". I suggest that the position of the subject be defined on the basis of the aforementioned two stages of the community: in the first stage, there is a community consisting of equal individuals who voluntarily engage in dialogue, whereas in the second stage there is a subject who is not engaged in dialogue, but arises in it at a certain point. It seems that it is the internalized dialogical community, in which the participants are equal and strive for clarity and transparency, that generates the necessary space for the particular foundation of the subject to show itself--the particular foundation that is not yet captured in reflection and that defies articulation in dialogue. (Contains 8 notes.)