Author(s):

At the centre of Martin Buber’s work was and still is the I–You relationship, around which his philosophical thought crystallized. The present article addresses his thought, firstly, by situating this philosophical idea in the history of philosophy. It moves on, secondly, to explain the systematic import of this foundational idea by hinting at the implications that can be drawn from Buber’s approach, independently of his own interests. It concludes, thirdly, with the characteristic philosophical achievements of religious authors as translators from one domain into another. In Martin Buber’s case, the humanist grounding of his Zionism can be understood in terms of the translation of particular religious intuitions into generalizing philosophical concepts.
Jürgen Habermas is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt.
The lecture was delivered on 1 May 2012.