Philosophical and Religious World View (1928)

Abstract

The verb “to know” is used in a twofold sense: First, according to the customary manner of speaking, “to know” means, in effect, “to regard a thing as an object.” At the bottom of it lies the relation of subject and object (philosophical worldview). Second, the verb “to know” has another sense in the biblical sentence, “Adam knew his wife Eve.” Here, the relationship of being to being is meant in which the real knowing of I and Thou takes place, but not of subject to object. This knowing lays the foundation for the religious worldview.