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I and Thou

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Context

Summary

Important Terms

Philosophical Themes, Arguments, Ideas

Book I, aphorisms 1–8: Basic Words and the Mode of Experience

Part I, aphorisms 9–19: Relation

Part I, aphorisms 19–22: Love and the Dialogical

Part I, aphorisms 23–29: Arguments for the Primacy of Relation

Part II, aphorisms 1–6: The It-World

Part II, aphorisms 6–8

Part II, aphorisms 9–13

Part III, aphorisms 1–4: Encountering the Eternal You

Part III, aphorisms 5–14: What Religion is Not

Part III, aphorisms 15–17: Revelation through Action

Important Quotations

Key Facts

Study Questions

Quiz

I and Thou

Martin Buber

Quiz

Which of the following best characterizes Buber's writing style?

(A) Poetic

(B) Aphoristic

(D) Scientific

According to Buber, which of the following does modern man ignore to his detriment?

(A) Experience

(B) His intellect

(D) Relation

Which of the following does not accurately describe the mode of experience?

(A) Pure present

(B) Distance

(D) Scientific

Which of the following can man not encounter?

(A) God

(B) His aunt

(D) None of the above

What is a You according to Buber?

(A) Something that you encounter

(B) Something that you experience

(D) Something that you fear

According to Buber, what are the most basic words?

(A) I and Thou

(B) I and It

(D) I–It and I–You

According to Buber, what indelible psychological trait does a human being receive from his time in the womb?

(A) The neurotic desire to mate with his mother

(B) A need for physical tenderness

(D) A dislike of enclosed spaces

What is the "innate You"?

(A) The inherent yearning that we all have to relate to another human being

(B) The inner source of self-completion

(D) God

What comes first in human development, the I–You or the I–It?

(A) The I–It

(B) The I–You

(D) It depends on the depth of attachment between mother and child.

Aside from developing children, Buber looks at one other group to confirm his theory of relation. What is that group?

(A) The ancient Isrealites

(B) The mystical Hasidic sect

(D) Famous lonely philosophers

Which would Buber consider the most accurate metaphor for encounter?

(A) A conversation

(B) Meditation

(D) Sacrifice

Which of the following statements about spirit would Buber not agree with?

(A) Spirit is word

(B) Modern society needs more spirit

(D) Man lives in spirit when he is able to respond to his You

What is a theomaniac according to Buber?

(A) A man who believes he is God

(B) A man who cannot open himself up to divine encounter

(D) A man who is so obsessed with finding God, that he is unable to do so

Which of the following famous historical figures does Buber not bring forward as an example of almost pure person?

(A) Socrates

(B) Goethe

(D) Napoleon

What is ego according to Buber?

(A) An inflated sense of self

(B) The I of I–It

(D) The I of the theomaniac

Which of the following is not oppressive to modern man, according to Buber?

(A) The psychological idea that innate drives constitute the entire human soul

(B) The belief in fate

(D) The biological theory that life is a universal struggle

Which of the following would Buber think most accurately describes the religious moment?

(A) Man becomes wholly dependent on God

(B) Man and God become one

(D) Man relates to God and, through Him, to the entire Universe

What does Buber mean when he says that man must "concentrate his soul" in order to prepare for an encounter with God?

(A) That man must strip away all superfluous aspects of himself, leaving only the purest desire to commune with God

(B) That man must hold together all contradictory aspects of himself

(D) That man must let go of the I

Which of the following would not be an accurate description of revelation according to Buber?

(A) Revelation involves a special kind of knowledge

(B) Revelation comes to exist through action

(D) Revelation cannot be communicated through words

Which of the following does one not lose after encounter with God?

(A) Duty

(B) Obligation

(D) Ethical judgements

What is the true site of religion according to Buber?

(A) The soul

(B) Nature

(D) Community

What transformation does a man undergo when he has encountered God?

(A) He is able to understand the meaning of the world order

(B) He is able to say "You" to the entire world

(D) He becomes unable to bear the weight of human suffering and will ultimately go mad

What need does faith come in to fill?

(A) The need for continuity

(B) The need for a personal relationship to God

(D) The need for community

What is the holy man's mission?

(A) To spread the word of God

(B) To punish wrongdoers

(D) To actualize God in the world through loving responsibility

Why are we not satisfied with human encounters?

(A) Because they are necessarily fleeting

(B) Because they are not entered into with the whole self

(D) Because they are tainted by impure love

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