One Thousand Years of Solitude and the Sphere of Between: Martin Buber’s Problem Awareness of Philosophical Anthropology

Abstract

In his 1938 article“The Problem of Man” (Das Problem des Menschen), Jewish philosopher Martin Buber explores a unique philosophical anthropological understanding of the human condition, focusing on the ontological concept of“solitude” and the realm of“between”. Buber’s concept of“solitude”is not a sociological or psychological one, but rather a metaphysical exploration of the individual’s position and uniqueness in the universe, as reflected in the thought of philosophers from Augustine to Pascal over the millennia. Additionally, Buber discusses the sphere of“between” as not a means to deny or to overcome “solitude”, but rather as a place where human beings“encounter” each other on a“narrow ridge”. According to Buber, only in this absolute solitude does the“between” Ekstase, serve as a bridge between the ethics of modern individualism and collectivism.