Martin Buber’s I and Thou
Martin Buber’s I and Thou (Ich und Du, 1923) presents a philosophy of personal dialogue, in that it
describes how personal dialogue can define the nature of reality. Buber’s major theme is that human
existence may be defined by the way in which we engage in dialogue with each other, with the world,
and with God.
According to Buber, human beings may adopt two attitudes toward the world: I-Thou or I-It. I-Thou is
a relation of subject-to-subject, while I-It is a relation of subject-to-object. In the I-Thou relationship,
human beings are aware of each oher as having a unity of being. In the I-Thou relationship, human
beings do not perceive each other as consisting of specific, isolated qualities, but engage in a dialogue
involving each other's whole being. In the I-It relationship, on the other hand, human beings perceive
each other as consisting of specific, isolated qualities, and view themselves as part of a world which
consists of things. I-Thou is a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity, while I-It is a relationship of
separateness and detachment.
Buber explains that human beings may try to convert the subject-to-subject relation to a subject-to-
object relation, or vice versa. However, the being of a subject is a unity which cannot be analyzed as an
object. When a subject is analyzed as an object, the subject is no longer a subject, but becomes an
object. When a subject is analyzed as an object, the subject is no longer a Thou, but becomes an It. The
being which is analyzed as an object is the It in an I-It relation.
The subject-to-subject relation affirms each subject as having a unity of being. When a subject chooses,
or is chosen by, the I-Thou relation, this act involves the subject’s whole being. Thus, the I-Thou
relation is an act of choosing, or being chosen, to become the subject of a subject-to-subject relation.
The subject becomes a subject through the I-Thou relation, and the act of choosing this relation affirms
the subject’s whole being.
Buber says that the I-Thou relation is a direct interpersonal relation which is not mediated by any
intervening system of ideas. No objects of thought intervene between I and Thou.1 I-Thou is a direct
relation of subject-to-subject, which is not mediated by any other relation. Thus, I-Thou is not a means
to some object or goal, but is an ultimate relation involving the whole being of each subject.
Love, as a relation between I and Thou, is a subject-to-subject relation. Buber claims that love is not a
relation of subject-to-object. In the I-Thou relation, subjects do not perceive each other as objects, but
perceive each other’s unity of being. Love is an I-Thou relation in which subjects share this unity of
being. Love is also a relation in which I and Thou share a sense of caring, respect, commitment, and
responsibility.
Buber argues that, although the I-Thou relation is an ideal relation, the I-It relation is an inescapable
relation by which the world is viewed as consisting of knowable objects or things. The I-It relation is
the means by which the world is analyzed and described. However, the I-It relation may become an I-
Thou relation, and in the I-Thou relation we can interact with the world in its whole being.
In the I-Thou relation, the I is unified with the Thou, but in the I-It relation, the I is detached or
separated from the It. In the I-Thou relation, the being of the I belongs both to I and to Thou. In the I-It
relation, the being of the I belongs to I, but not to It.
I-Thou is a relation in which I and Thou have a shared reality. Buber contends that the I which has no
Thou has a reality which is less complete than that of the I in the I-and-Thou. The more that I-and-Thou
share their reality, the more complete is their reality.
According to Buber, God is the eternal Thou. God is the Thou who sustains the I-Thou relation
eternally. In the I-Thou relation between the individual and God, there is a unity of being in which the