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I-Thou
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Key People:
Martin Buber
Related Topics:
philosophy
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I-Thou

philosophical doctrine
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History

I-Thou, theological doctrine of the full, direct, mutual relation between beings, as conceived by Martin Buber and some other 20th-century philosophers. The basic and purest form of this relation is that between man and God (the Eternal Thou), which is the model for and makes possible I-Thou relations between human beings. The relation between man and God, however, is always an I-Thou one, whereas that between man and man is very frequently an I-It one, in which the other being is treated as an object of thought or action. According to Buber, man’s relation to other creatures may sometimes approach or even enter the I-Thou realm. Buber’s book Ich und Du (1923; I and Thou) is the classic work on the subject.