Buber on Meeting the Eternal Thou

Overview

Recall questions on how God is encountered, why God cannot be proved or described, what meeting means and why an I-Thou moment cannot be sustained.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How, according to Buber, is God encountered?

   Model answer

   Through genuine meeting with other beings, since every true I-Thou relation opens onto the Eternal Thou.

2. 2

   Why does Buber hold that God cannot be proved or described?

   Model answer

   Argument and description belong to the world of It, whereas God is only ever met in relation and addressed.

3. 3

   Explain what Buber means by 'meeting'.

   Model answer

   A direct and mutual event between two beings that cannot be planned, analysed or held on to.

4. 4

   Why can an I-Thou moment not be sustained?

   Model answer

   Every Thou slips back into an It as soon as it is reflected on or used, so relation is momentary and must be constantly renewed.

5. 5

   How does Buber's approach differ from the philosophical arguments for God's existence?

   Model answer

   Those arguments treat God as an object of proof, whereas Buber holds that God is known only in the immediacy of relation.

6. 6

   Which Jewish movement most shaped Buber's thinking?

   Model answer

   Hasidism, whose tales he collected and retold, with its stress on encountering God in ordinary life.

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