It vs Thou | Logan Jones

Logan  Jones

Reddick

9/25/14

It vs. Thou

      Humans are a very selfish beings naturally. We make it out as if everything revolves around us, like we are the center of the universe. When in fact we are nowhere near the center of the universe. As humans we assume that we are the most important thing on Earth. We forget that there are millions of other organisms that inhabit this planet besides us. Not just animals and people, but there are plants, bacteria, and other menial organisms. People forget that plants have a sense of soul and the environment around them. They are not inanimate objects as most would subconsciously think. Some people would see plants as an It, when they are really a Thou. They function and have a purpose just as humans do. When we are talking about It and Thou there is a difference that many bypass. It is something we can’t relate to on an emotional level, but still has physical presence. Whereas Thou is something that has a physical form that you can relate to. In most situations It can be both organic and non-organic, while Thou is always organic. 

      Martin Buber explains that, “The It-world hangs together in space and time.  The You-world does not hang together in space and time. The individual You must become an It when the event of relation has run it course.” (Buber 84) This shows that you can have multiple Its but only one You/Thou. If you add multiple Its together you get a group, a force that is greater than just one It.  As the Its get put together they become more relevant. An example is a cut down tree. As one tree it only has about one functional purpose, which is to be burned to make fire. But if you have many cut down trees you can make something much more helpful than a fire. You can make a house, which is way more functional than one tree. Now if you try and put multiple You’s together it won’t work, because You can not become any more powerful than it already is. Let’s say You comes across a situation that takes a lot of thought to fix. You is not able to fix it without the help of It and vice versa. Go back to the firewood example. The It was practically useless until the You took many other Its and put them together to make a bigger It. Although this new It is bigger and more functional, it is still useless without a You. Though It and You are two different beings they can interact and often do. It depends on You to have a presence and to take a form. 

      I see It and Thou/You as two being that react to one another. They are two very different beings, yet rely one one another. We see it happen everyday, even in the classroom. The professor is teaching, he/she is the You or Thou, and the It is the subject being taught. Though it has no spirit or being it still effects the You, because without the It the You would have no purpose. From reading the excerpt from Buber’s book I elicited that It and Thou rely on each other, though they are two very different beings. One reacting to the other in a reciprocating fashion. Over and over time after time, the same cyclical event.

References:

Lane, B. C. (2002). Landscapes of the sacred: Geography and narrative in American spirituality. JHU Press.