Buber's distinguishing philosophy from religion

Abstract

In this paper the author discusses Buber's distinguishing the spheres of philosophy and religion. Relying both on Pascal's insight that the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is essentially different from abstract God of the philosophers and on his own spiritual experiences, Buber thinks that philosophy as such is abstract while religion is distinguished by its personal relationship, immediacy and concreteness. According to the thinker of the dialogue, philosophy is based on subject-object relation and is limited to objective communication. It is reduced to the mere thought exchange and does not require any personal life commitment which is otherwise the case in the true religion. In contrast to the detachment of the theoretical position, religion culminates in the immortal moment of the meeting with eternal Thou, i.e. with the living God. Differently from philosophy which insists on logic and consistency, religion is distinguished by its paradox. Instead of following the path of philosophy which mediates and reconciles the opposites, religion demands from us to bear the antinomy of the human condition. After having discussed many Buber's arguments in favour of the primacy of the living religion over the abstract philosophy namely of I-Thou relationship over the impersonal I-It relationship, the author examines the relation between the philosophical and religious moment in Buber's thought itself. At the end of the paper the author, agreeing great deal with Buber's reasoning, advances his own opinion on the relation between religion and philosophy.