NEW VIDEO

It, You, and What Else?
Reflections on Martin Buber’s vision
By Ran Lahav

As we have seen in the first two videos on Martin Buber, Buber envisions a transformation of our relationships to others: from I-It relations toI-You relations. In other words, instead of relating to others as objects, as things that are external to me, I now relate to them through a full togetherness. This new relationshipis authentic, and it gives authenticity and meaning to my life.

But an important issue arises here: Buber insists, in his book I-Thou, that such a transformation is always temporary.

NEW TEXT

Martin Buber (1878—1965)

Towards Fuller Relationships – Part 1

By Ran Lahav

NEW ANIMATION VIDEO

Seeking Wisdom: Listening to the Other

In his search for wisdom the elephant meets the giraffe, the tallest and wisest of animals.

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#16 Jaspers que buen trabajo que haz echo — servat 2012-02-19 11:26

El filosofo Sartre nomina a el filosofo Jaspers de EXISTENCIALISTE, como él Sastre. Y habla de su atheo de causa revolucionaria (mejor por lo que yo no acepto un ateo que no practique la revolucion)y no necesita hablar mas de Jaspers, no lo jusga ni de izquierda ni de derecha tan solo EXISTENCIALISTA. Manso tipo Jaspers que conocio a Lou Salommé..Martin Heidergger y muchos mas. Y seguro hadra leido beaucoup de romains. Un libro estoy lellendo ahora es de Michel Foucault Les mot et les Choses, que bien el pronostica la end philosofique. Creo que se inspiro en Jaspers EL EXISTENCIALISTA todos estamos implicados por él new ego!

#15 boundary situation — Tom 2012-02-13 19:15

Hi Ran, I assume my following video demonstrates how a mass looking for a (techno-)party runs into a boundary situation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAMNs3ANCWI&list=UUFDlXZGux43mC04OgGg0ivw&index=10&feature=plcp
All the best, Tom

#14 Jaspers and Inner Life — Ran 2012-01-21 08:25

Thanks for your feedback, Tom. And thanks for your videos - very poetic!

#13 Dipl. Ing. — Tom 2012-01-20 21:48

Hi Ran, it`s a great pleasure for me to see your video regarding Karl Jaspers philosophy. I learned from him 23 years ago and survived. (Another "companion" is Anton Bruckner.) To give you an impression about my "inner life" maybe you find time to have a look in my YouTube-channel (bluesandall). Examples
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjaZXCSxiSU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSNXYNzTZlE&feature=plcp&context=C3a88e8dUDOEgsToPDskJA3EGrDoY3lFSzMiBPM5fC ... All the best, Tom

#12 Wisdom and old age — Ran 2011-07-29 15:28

Diana, I think that your question is excellent. You mention the notion of wisdom, and I think that wisdom, too, is a result of an inner transformation, although a slow and gradual one. So one could reformulate your question to: Does age necessarily transform us to have wisdom?
Well, it seems to me that older age is necessary for wisdom, though is not sufficient. I cannot imagine an 18-year-old who is a wise person (not just smart by wise). But I can imagine a 60-year-old who is wise, and a 60-year-old who is not wise.
So I suggest that older age is necessary for the transformation that is called wisdom, because wisdom involves seeing the larger integrated picture, or being part of broader horizons, something that can develop as we mature. But not everybody matures in this way. And the proof for this is the fact that there are many older people who are not wise.

#11 Miss — Diana Gilbar 2011-07-27 18:42

I am curious - do all people meet that day of transformation with age and wisdom - (not necessarily with acceptance maybe) but do all people reach this whether a down experience accompanies it or with age and wisdom ? Is their a difference ? With me it was hitting rock bottom beforehand as Jasper spoke of, but people tell me age and wisdom alone can bring it about . Only, I see them as two different things.

#10 Transformation — Massimiliano 2011-07-13 19:48

In my life, from the age of 22 I began to seek the way out from my darkness by the means of a thought that try to hold together God and man - not in the traditional religious way, but in a philosophical way of life. I find the "trasformational philosophers" very interesting because they oscillate between these two worlds - the human and the divine. I can't figure a way out of the darkness without this oscillation.
(Maybe I've made grammatical mistakes. I'm sorry, I'm italian)

#9 Jaspers and Socrates — Ran 2011-07-13 12:22

I agree, John. For Jaspers, the predicament which we experience in boundary situations (or limit situations) does not call for a solution, but rather calls us to return to ourselves, to our awareness of ourselves and our limitations. In our technological society, we tend to think of difficulties as problems-to-be-fixed. But this way of thinking simplifies life and makes it superficial. Jaspers, as I read him, reminds us that life is more than problems to be fixed, and that sometimes it is precisely in the midst of darkness that our life is fuller of wisdom and self-understanding.

#8 Jaspers and Socrates — John Shaplin 2011-07-12 08:39

I think that even if one has been philosophically inclined for many years, in the circumstances of a profound personal crisis, taking the time and expending the energy to properly think things through is not easy. Wasn't it Socrates who noted (ironically) that the essence of wisdom is knowing that you are not wise? It's important, I think, to 'give myself a break': that I may have to live for a long time without really understanding, that solutions and conclusions are not just lying about ready-to-hand or just a matter of making the right (consumer-type) choice!

#7 Miss. — Ran 2011-07-11 15:26

Diana, the topic of transformation – becoming a fuller person, deeper, wiser, better – is an important theme both in religion and philosophy. But I think that it is very difficult to change ourselves. The psychological powers that maintain our usual patterns of behavior, thought and emotion are too strong. We usually don’t feel these powers until we try to struggle against them. It is much easier to conform, as you say, than to transform. Maybe this is the reason why people speak a lot about transformation, both in religion and philosophy, without putting this into practice.

#6 Miss. — Diana Gilbar 2011-07-11 08:54

To transform is written in religion...to conform is not. Is this philisophical too ? If so, why do those who read religion not understand transform ?

#5 Jasper's Text — Carmen 2011-07-10 19:58

The desire to lead a philosophical life not necessarily springs from the darkness. I remember that it started in me at an early age moved by curiosity about the limits of knowledge and in the search of the foundations for a more just society.
Nevertheless reading Jasper’s text made me remember the strange void I felt when my first husband left me. Suddenly he was not there anymore. He could have died too. The thing was that I had taken for granted that he would always be there and that I would be attached to him all my life. Similar to what Angus tells in the video; I also was accustomed to think of me as part of something else, a couple or a family. So what should I do now – I thought. What is love, but a very personal feeling of joy, very much independent of the feelings of the beloved one. What does dedication or even sacrifice for the beloved one or for our children mean, but that we are denying ourselves and wasting the time that is left over to us? Is the same valid for any social engagement? How can we possibly know if what we do is in any way useful or if we should better spend our time in self-improvement? -What should I do? What did I want to do? I had no answers at the moment. So in part I just continued leaving myself be dragged fulfilling the demands of the day, as Jaspers says. But now I was conscious about my lack of inner will to do anything meaningful. And this consciousness restarted a philosophical inner reflection in me. I was now more aware of the useless nature of most of what we do in life and I learned to focus more in enjoying some moments that life offers us or that we create ourselves for some dreams that might never come through, but for which we may struggle together with people whose company we enjoy.
So the philosophical attitude may be moved by ones own enthusiastic decision, but more frequently by moments such as Jaspers points out in the text.
An important idea here, I believe is, that many philosophers have forgotten the original concern of philosophy which is to always be awake to understand life and of course not forget to be aware about what and why we think and do what we do.

#4 Jaspers and Erikson — PR 2011-07-10 09:51

At first I wondered why Jaspers was talking about the void and being lost. Then I realized that his idea is similar to the theory of Erik Erikson, the developmental psychologist. Erikson says that at each stage in life you deal with a certain kind of crisis. If you overcome the crisis, then you gain new abilities and you continue to develop. The common idea is that a crisis helps you grow.

#3 Jaspers and James — Meg 2011-07-10 08:49

Maybe that’s why I don’t see the light yet. I’m not doing great, but I’m not doing too bad either. Not bad enough, I guess. I haven’t bumped hard enough against my limitations. Would Jaspers recommend that I find me a good crisis to shake me up?

#2 Jaspers and William James — Plato 2011-07-10 08:17

Jaspers passage is inspiring: A crisis doesn’t have to be only bad, because it can awaken you. This reminds me of William James’ book Varieties of Religious Experience. James says that when people feel they are at the end of the road, sometimes they experience a spiritual breakthrough. He quotes dozens of personal diaries of people who were at the bottom of the pit (drunk for example), and then the light came.

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