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Martin Buber 1878-1965. I and Thou. The world is twofold, in accordance with our twofold attitude. There are two primary words. I-Thou I-It Primary words intimate relations and bring about existence. Can only be spoken with the whole of being
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I and Thou • The world is twofold, in accordance with our twofold attitude. • There are two primary words. • I-Thou • I-It • Primary words intimate relations and bring about existence.
Can only be spoken with the whole of being No thing is taken as an object; the stand is taken in relation Can never be spoken with the whole of being Has a thing as an object I-Thou I-It
I-Thou • “Every particular Thou is a glimpse through to the eternal Thou; by mean of every particular Thou the primary word addresses the eternal Thou.” • “But when he, too, who abhors the name [God], and believes himself to be godless, gives his whole being to addressing the Thou of his life, as a Thou that cannot be limited by another, he addresses God.”
God • We continually make God into a thing. • But meeting with God is not to have us concern ourselves with God, but to confirm that there is meaning in the world. • The question is not about God, but about our relationship. • God as a Person
Bearing Witness • This is not an experience of something extra-worldly. • It is a conversation, a call to live in the everyday world. • The secular or profane is sacred.