Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. - MPF

100th anniversary of Martin Buber's I and Thou - (Follett synergies)

On a hunch, I checked, and this year is the 100th anniversary of Martin Buber's I and Thou (the original version in German). Buber was a Jewish philosopher. I had read I and Thou at least 25 years ago, and was curious to re-read it. So I am doing that now, through my older lenses (intellectual, intuitive, and ocular). And even if Follett had never read Buber or vice-versa (very possible), there clearly was a common focus on relation.

The core idea in Buber's concise but profound book is that there are two "basic words" (two basic modes of being in the world): I-It and I-You. I-It is a relationship of objectification (both of other and of self); I-You is true relation. The I in I-It is not the same I as the I in I-You. Anyway, I am into it and recommend it.

Born ten years later than Follett, Buber didn't visit the US until 1951. He died in 1965. But, obviously, he lives on in a way. Like Follett.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Massimo Cisternino on February 13, 2025 at 7:10pm

Dear Matthew,

thank you very much for accepting me into the network.

I was searching for information on Follett and Buber, and I found your post here. I'm fairly new to her work. Still, my best guess is that her idea in the New State of the only reality being the "relating of one to the other" may come from T. H. Green's Prolegomena to Ethics. The idea of the only reality being relation is somewhat similar to Buber I-Thou, but I think that Buber follows more Jacobi and other German thinkers there. And, of course, Hasidic theology.

I hope to see more events dedicated to her work as her social philosophy is really remarkable.