I–Thou

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I–Thou (in contrast to I–It). A distinction in ways of knowing, emphasized by M. Buber: in the personal relationship, one subject, I, encounters or meets another subject, Thou; in connection with things, the subject observes or experiences an object, It. The relation with God may be I–It as a matter of discussion, but God can only be known in the I–Thou relationship.

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