Martin Buber (1878–1965)

Abstract

Abstract Do animals have a companion in the religion scholar Martin Buber? His earlier work posits a qualitative difference between humans and animals, viewing the human as special, transcending animality. However, this chapter argues, his contact with and reflection on animals, both personal and professional, belie this hierarchical divide. Maurice Friedman, Buber’s biographer, suggests it was Buber’s intimate relationships with other animals that made it impossible for him to cull them entirely from his philosophy of dialogue, even in the face of dogged, collegial discontent (e.g., Bergmann and Levinas). This chapter argues that his rich reflections on animals allow us to read Buber against his own humanist (re)capitulations. Buber’s animals, corralled by a humanist legacy, bite back. Attending to Buber’s animal encounters augments his relational ethics, framing this religious resource for our communities to better understand not only ourselves but the variety of ways animals comport themselves within our more-than-human world.