Tony Yarusso's Blog

Outline

1. Background and History
   • Born in Vienna
   • Also lived in Lemberg, Leipzig, Berlin, Zurich, Jerusalem
   • Translated Hebrew Scriptures into idiomatically equivalent German
   • Worked for cooperation between Jews and Arabs, as well as with Germans again after the war.
2. Culture of their time
   • Was an adult when Hitler came to power (1933) - resigned, was prohibited from lecturing, Jewish involvment became increasingly important.
   • Forced to leave in 1938
3. Description of Theories
   • Dialogue and Monologue to express human existence
   • Ich-Du (I-Thou) and Ich-Es (I-It) relationships
     • Ich-Du
       Is perceivable, but not provable. Has no structure and communicates no information. Two beings encounter each other. ex. Person-God, with other person-person relationships being a reflection of this.
     • Ich-Es
       Beings do not actually meet, but regard each other as an idea, object, or conceptualization. More common, but devalues existence.

     Criticised for oversimplifying human relationships to just two types.

   • Hasidism
     Focused on spiritual aspects, rather than legalistic religious law enforcement. Liked that they lived their religious beliefs. Emphasized emotional aspects.
   • Zionism
     Preferred a binational state over a soley Jewish state, as he felt that better fit the overall goals.
4. Application to Interpersonal Communications
   • Two modes of interaction - as with a thing and as with a being
   • With a thing interaction has events and effects, but no real involvement
   • With a being interaction simply is, without the measurement we are used to
5. Conclusions
   • Would likely be better off with more common Ich-Du relationships

Sources

1. Wikipedia entry
2. Martin Buber Homepage
3. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry