The Experience and Relation Amalgamation According to Martin Buber

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I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion. I acknowledge that the assessor may provide a copy of this assignment to another member of staff and that the assessor may take steps to authenticate the assignment.

Signed. . . .PATRICIO FERNANDO SADA GARZA . . . . .                Date . NOVEMBER 6, 2016

The Experience and Relation Amalgamation According to Martin Buber

        In life, one cannot merely go about experiencing things without interaction and relation with other individuals; it would be folly to do so and one could not be considered human in doing so. I and Thou, Martin Buber´s most significant contribution to philosophy, explores the difference between the basic words I-It and I-Thou, which show how different a subject goes about living and experiencing his or her surroundings. Buber argues how these perspectives or ways of living affect the way we interact with such surroundings in ways applicable to our views on ethics. It is of interest to fully understand the difference of these two basic words and identify the role they play in human existence and morality.

I-It

        In the eyes of Buber, the I-It relation is the simplest way to go about living, where one looks at an object, particularly something inanimate or a lifeform other than a human, and merely experiences it; What Buber means of this is that the I, or the person experiencing an object is perceiving it as a thing that is in no way related to him or herself. The I can identify all its features, recognize them, process them and feel a reaction to that object, but it so only makes him experience it without fully recognizing it as a being; this reaction is then turned into knowledge which is then turned into experience. Buber mentions that in an I-It relationship one cannot be considered whole since only a part of ourselves is present (Wyschogrod, 1967), this being because one never commits to an object merely from experience, there is no relation betwixt them, therefore, in experiencing the I-It, the subject is alone with him or herself. In other words, the I cannot be considered whole in itself without another self (Longpré, 2010). It is possible, however, to have an I-It relationship with another human; once the I is alone and experiences the superficial parts of another individual without entering into relation with him or her, does the subject of the It become an It. An example of this is the contemplation of a complete stranger walking at a distance; you stand alone, without any relation to the subject, only experiencing the superficial aspects of the individual without any communication whatsoever, noticing his or her facial factions, their clothes, complexion etc. This experience only lies within you and nothing else, not in the outside world nor in the stranger now labelled as an It; only the I is present and isolated from other beings in the relationship.

I-Thou

        The I-Thou on the other hand is a more sophisticated way to encounter a subject. Contrary to the I-It, the basic word I-Thou goes beyond the realm of experience and passes to the world of relation, where the I can see a reflection of his or herself in the subject of the Thou. Apart from a reflection of one’s self on another, the I has to recognize his or herself as a whole being, and for this there needs to be participation between the I and the subject through communication either verbal or spiritual; the I-Thou relationship can be most certainly achieved through nonverbal means. This relationship is not superficial anymore, since the Thou in the I-Thou is addressing the I as another Thou; this is what Buber refers to when he says that “relation is reciprocity”, no Thou is left standing alone as if they were in an I-It relationship, but both subjects stand in relation to each other, recognizing the being and essence of their counterpart. There now is a relation between both subjects acting as a whole in themselves, no part of each subject is left out. The I-Thou relationship however, is then broken once the subject of the I holds back a part of his or herself, since the basic word I-Thou cannot survive if one is not wholly invested in it (Wyschogrod, 1967); thus the relation is then turned into an experience, better known as an I-It relation. Having said, there is a certain risk involved in partaking in an I-Thou relationship, since the I, or the Thou, are exposed to the risk of being hurt in the process by the Thou or the I (1967).

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