Martin Buber’s Ethics of the Moment

In this session we will study Martin Buber's public correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi. We will examine how Buber confronts Western Humanism, with his own view of Jewish Humanism – inspired by the biblical prophets, Kabbalah and Hasidism. Buber opposed Immanuel Kant’s universal duty as well as Plato's universal Truth and called instead for a consideration of the specific historical context, with the unique challenges it presents. An age old argument that holds much power for our day and age.