Martin Buber reads Heraclitus: The metamorphoses of the “We”

This paper investigates Martin Buber’s appraisal of Heraclitus’ thinking. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the relation between cosmos and logos in the thought of the two philosophers, and to propose a Buberian informed alternative account to this relation which may be called “dialogical dwelling”. The idea of dialogical dwelling is a direct consequence of Buber’s theory of the essential We, in which the members of the community accept and confirm each other, thanks to a sort of reciprocal hospitality. As I will argue, Buber’s theory of the essential We has been heavily influenced by the Heraclitean relation between cosmos and logos. My contribution might throw light on this particular manner of inhabiting the world together, under the heading of dialogical dwelling. The key relation between cosmos and logos rests solely on what Buber has called interhuman cooperation. Nonetheless, I will draw on phenomenological and hermeneutical sources to describe how this dialogical dwelling becomes operative in the case of the essential We.

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