The Mary Parker Follett Network

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.

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