Martin Buber's Obligation

638 Words2 Pages

In I and Thou, a statement is made that is quite intriguing when Martin Buber states that “Man’s world is manifold, and his attitudes are manifold” (Kaufmann, 1996, pg. 9). Manifold is defined, as many or various meaning that there isn’t one particular choice. Martin Buber discusses manifold he describes it as something that is often frightening because it is not neat or simple. Men prefer things to be neat and simple because it makes it easier to decide what to do. People typically like to try to forget the many possibilities that are open to them. For example, if you go back through time and examine figures such as Jesus they give you two options, light or darkness. When Jesus is talking about light and darkness he is saying that you either …show more content…

First is going to school or not, if they choose to go to school they then must decide what school to attend. For this example let us say they get into multiple school with varying scholarship offer ranging from full tuition to none at all. They could go to a lower ranked school with a full ride not owing a dime or go to a more prominent school with no scholarship. They then face the option of picking whether or not they would rather be debt free or go to a school with a better reputation but owe tens of thousands of dollars. Once they decide on a school then a student typically has to figure out what major they are going into. A student can be 18 years old trying to figure out what they are going to do with the rest of their lives and what area they should study. If they pick that they want to go into the college of business they are again faced with more options. Which department do they want marketing or accounting and typically most students get overwhelmed when trying to make these decisions. The main reason is there are just too many options available to them today. A hundred years ago kids followed in their family footsteps taking over for their father and learning the trade. That isn’t the case any more students have the ability to pick anything they want and this gives students anxiety. It frightens students because they realize that life isn’t simple or neat but manifold as Buber calls

Open Document