Why Martin Buber Still Matters in a Scientific Age
I have spent time revisiting an older question of mine: How can the philosophy of Martin Buber be used across different scientific fields?
Many years ago, while working on my doctoral research in social work, I discussed this question with the Norwegian philosopher John Lundstøl. At the time, I had been reading books about guilt, mostly from psychology and psychiatry. Much of the literature gave me the impression that guilt was mainly a feeling to be removed through therapy.
I doubted that this was enough.
I had begun reading Buber, especially his reflections on guilt and human relationship, and I sensed that guilt was not only a feeling inside the individual. It was also something that could arise between people.
That insight stayed with me.
A Philosopher Beyond Philosophy
When I searched academic journals, I was surprised by what I found. Buber was being used in many disciplines:
- philosophy
- theology
- medicine
- psychiatry
- nursing
- education
- family therapy
- economics
- sociology
- psychology
- literary studies
This is remarkable. Few philosophers travel so widely.
Why?
Because Buber speaks to a problem that every profession eventually meets:
How do we relate to the human being in front of us?
I-It and I-Thou
Buber’s best-known book, I and Thou, describes two fundamental ways of relating.
I-It
This is the world of objects, categories, functions, measurement, and use.
We need this mode. Science depends on it. Hospitals need diagnoses. Schools need structure. Governments need systems. Researchers need analysis.
I-Thou
This is the world of encounter.
The other person is not reduced to a category. They are met as a living being with dignity, uniqueness, and presence.
We also need this mode.
When I-Thou disappears completely, institutions may become efficient—but cold.
Medicine and Care
In medicine, Buber helps us remember that a patient is more than a diagnosis.
Modern medicine must use science, evidence, and technology. But healing is not only technical. Many people remember not just the treatment they received, but whether they felt seen.
A doctor may cure without meeting.
A nurse may meet even when cure is impossible.
That difference matters.
Therapy and Mental Health
In psychotherapy and psychiatry, Buber reminds us that healing can happen through genuine human contact.
The suffering person does not need only interpretation. Sometimes they need presence, steadiness, and the experience of not being alone.
Many wounds were created in relationship. Some healing also happens in relationship.
Education
Education easily becomes numbers, grades, rankings, and performance.
But real learning often begins when a student meets a teacher who believes in them, challenges them, and treats them seriously.
Knowledge grows best where respect is present.
Social Work
This field was closest to my own life.
Social work can become administration: files, forms, systems, risk assessments, procedures. These are necessary.
But guilt, shame, violence, addiction, fear, loneliness, and hope do not arrive as paperwork. They arrive through human beings.
Without relationship, help becomes procedure.
With relationship, procedure may become humane practice.
Why Buber Still Speaks Today
We live in a scientific and digital age. We measure more than ever. We calculate more than ever. We classify more than ever.
Yet one ancient question remains:
How shall one person meet another?
Artificial intelligence, data systems, and institutions cannot fully answer that question.
It is answered in homes.
In classrooms.
In hospitals.
In conversations.
In moments of courage.
In the quality of attention we give one another.
That is why Martin Buber still matters.
He reminds us that behind every category stands a person.
And between persons there is always a possibility:
Not only I-It
but I-Thou.
Closing Reflection
Perhaps the future will need more science, not less.
But it will also need more humanity.
Buber understood that long ago.
And maybe that is why his old voice still sounds new.
Core Works by Martin Buber
Dialogical Philosophy
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1970). I and Thou (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). Charles Scribner’s Sons. (Original work published 1923)
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1947). Between Man and Man (R. G. Smith, Trans.). Routledge.
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1965). The Knowledge of Man (M. Friedman, Ed.). Harper & Row.
Ethics / Human Existence / Responsibility
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1967). Schuld und Schuldgefühle [Guilt and Feelings of Guilt]. Minerva. (Norwegian translation)
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1965). The Way of Response. Schocken Books.
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1967). On Judaism. Schocken Books.
Religion / Biblical Thought / Faith
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1952). Images of Good and Evil. Scribner.
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1958). Moses. Harper & Brothers.
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1967). Hasidism and Modern Man. Horizon Press.
Society / Politics / Community
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1958). Paths in Utopia. Beacon Press.
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1969). Pointing the Way. Harper & Row.
Education
Martin Buber Buber, M. (1965). Between Man and Man (contains major essays on education and dialogue).
This text was written by me in conversation with OpenAI/ChatGPT, which also made the illustration
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