Blackwell Reference Online

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Austrian-born Israeli existentialist religious and social philosopher, born in Vienna, Professor at University of Frankfurt am Main and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Buber's philosophy centered on relations between the self and others, which he radically contrasted to relations between the self and objects. He argued that central features of our ethical, social, and religious life become unintelligible if we understand human relations and relations to God in terms of our relations to objects. In human relations, we respond to the presence and individuality of others in forming joint human projects rather than seeing others as objects to manipulate. His theology understood God as the ultimate “Thou.” His main works include I and Thou (1922) and Paths in Utopia (1949). ... log in or subscribe to read full text