‘I and You’ in Ebner.s Treatise ‘Word and Spiritual Realities’

Abstract

In the article the main ideas of F. Ebner’s work ‘The word and spiritual realities’ are investigated. The article opens with an outlook on the origins of ‘dialogue philosophy’, stating peculiar features of the philosophy of dialogue exemplifi ed by the works ‘The Star of Salvation’ by F. Rosenzweig and ‘I and Thou’ by M. Buber. Such properties are: denial of understanding a person as something abstract, disinclination of the metaphysics focused on immutable life, the relation to the world as that to an object. Further the main ideas of Ebner’s work are analyzed. According to Ebner, I has no absolute existence at all. I covers reality near itself, it is not just I, but ‘I and You’. Further the question of naming is analyzed, which argues primordiality of the ‘I – You’ relation. The article traces his criticism of the idealistic metaphysics based on the concept of selfconsciousness. Activity of consciousness turns a person into an object. The concept of selfconsciousness leads a person to absolute isolation. The author analyzes the concept of ‘solitariness of I’ which is treated by Ebner as a derivative of a false ontologic presupposition. Further the idea of understanding a person as a unity of ‘I and You’ is analyzed. Ebner’s transition from the concept of dialogue to the statement of a problem of language is also considered in the article. In turn, the author passes from the problem of language to Ebner’s key idea – faith in God. The author comes to a conclusion that the peculiarity of Ebner’s philosophy consists in the justifi cation of religious belief. His philosophy of language is aimed at fi nding God.

Keywords

• dialogue philosophy
• other one
• personalism
• self
• selfconsciousness
• thinking
• language
• faith
• religion