Rekindling Buber: From Philosophical Eclipse to Potential Revival, an Introduction

Reflecting on Martin Buber’s philosophical legacy, this chapter examines how Buber’s dialogical thought, originally framed as post-Kantian epistemology, became marginalized from mainstream philosophical discourse to the realm of German-Jewish history of ideas. Although this framing initially attracted philosophical interest, it eventually led to the perception of Buber’s work as nonviable and irrelevant, due to shifting philosophical paradigms and cultural dynamics. In response, the chapter introduces the main argument of the book: a proposal for reconceptualizing Buber’s work as a philosophy of action. This reconceptualization is argued to hold significant potential for contemporary philosophical exploration. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book’s structure.