Martin Buber and the Philosophy of Dialogue

Martin Buber was a prolific writer, translator, and philosopher whose essay I and Thou remains hugely influential to this day. In I and Thou, Buber calls upon us to see one another not as means to our ends, or as obstacles to our projects, but as mysterious sources of value. And if that’s true, then rather than only using language to solve problems together—let alone using it to impress people with our brilliance!—we should take the opportunity, as often as possible, to encounter an entirely different world. We ourselves will be benefited, Buber adds, since our very identity depends on our relations with other people. Josh and Lanier dialogue with Leora Batnizky from Princeton University, author of How Judaism Became a Religion.

Part of the Jewish Thinkers series.