ABSTRACT
Other Ideas The central distinction in I and Thou is between the I-It and I-Thou ways of engaging with the world. In parts two and three of the book respectively, he applies this notion to questions of communal life (politics and economics) and religious faith. With regard to the former, Buber does not argue for an outright rejection of economics, which he defines as “will to profit,” or the political State, which he defines in terms of the “will to be powerful.”1 Rather, he says that these spheres can and must be orientated toward, rather than away from, deeper participation in the spirit of the I-Thou relation.2 As Buber puts it, “Economics…and the State…share in life as long as they share in [this] spirit.” However, their effect is detrimental when they fail to do so: “If they abjure spirit they abjure life” (abjure means to renounce or reject).3
