\ ,

nrvownouzi nu

Though it may seem strange to you -- or perhaps you will not be in the least bit sur- prised -- I still think, feel, and reflect seriously about E... She is still‘ presence to me. She still addresses me. I still respbnd to her in her presence as presence i3 mg. Yet my tho- ught as thought cannot com— prehend how this is possible: thus the relationship itself manifests itself as a mystery. No psychology and no science whatever can account for this yet it is activity: the re- lationship occured, yet it.b incomprehensible hgw such a relationship is possible. How, after all the scientific hypotheses about structural similarity, about a shared language,about a similar br- ain constitution, about peo- ple needing other’people -- how after all this is said is such a relationship poss-“ ible. Science, psychology, sociology, biology and phy- sics merely beg the question. How is it possible that I can address and feel addressed by another persOn? How is it possible that in my address to another person I already feel addressed by that per— sons being and hence my address is itself a response to that person's being? How 7 is it possible that man can transcend the human situation and feel addressed, nay, be addressed by something be- yond, yet in, that situation? How is it possible that such a relationship can continue in a world that is for the most part composed of objects? -- objects to which I have no relation other than use. The nature of conciousness itself that what I am concious Of I am concious of because

I am concious. Thus every- thing, what I See, what I feel What I smell, are mere func-. tions of conciousness and

ere, strictly speaking, ins— lde me, just as are my hopes, my fears, my desires. How

then is it possible to addré ess and to feel addressed by another? I repeat, the find-

‘s

ings of science (which are not—as considerable as one might think) merely beg the question, for they presuppose what they want‘to show is possible. Here, at least sci- ence is caught in an episte- mological quick mire. , ‘ But I do not want to proceed

this way, for I realize it will lead me nowhere but into

' that realm of practice of

which I seek to understand its possibility. Thus the problem of understanding how the relationship is possi- ble, how the mutuality of

a relationship can occur

for that is the essence of

‘ being in relation -— is not

an empirical concern, but a problem of method. Even Bur— ber in his classic book, I _ And Thou does not attempt to answer such a question. Yet such a question demands an answer in we are to understand the true meaning of being in relation, Indeed. if we can discover this meaning, now relation is possible, then presumably we have every rea- son to regard our discovery as having the most profound import for practice. for

then perhaps we will be able to create the conditions requisite for relation and‘ therefore in some instances realize through our own act of will a brgadening scope

of relation and a deeper app- reciation of its value. Here then we would not explain aw- ay relation or view it as 'necessary' as many political philosophers do-and as virtu—

.ally all sociologists and

psychologists do. But we shall grant them now what th- ey have, since ancient Greece, been ever fond of repeating: "that man is a social being". This statement seems to say very much but actually it says very little for exact- 1y what it is people are tal- king when they utter theSe words has never been made cl- ear. Our question formulated at the outset still remains: how is it possible that I can address and feel addressed by another person, how

15 relation itself possible? It may be that the diffi— culty in understanding how relation is possible is that the conditions for its real— ization are for the most part, abent in this world. It may be that the_conditions for entering into relation are contingent upon our ridding ourselves of our ecological prejudices and that for this reason it remains an extreme ly rare occurence in our so- ciety actualized only by the most free spirits. In that case we would have to dis- cover the conditions in ad— vanced industrial society which greatly limit the po- ssbility of relation and at the same time thereby dis— cover the conditions which

;"Txx‘" v , . “ ‘

THE CADRE, was..- MARCH 26. 1974 page 9

enhance its possibility. Analysis of the negative fea- tures in our society does after all have many positive features. When I say "no",

I am always saying "Yes" to something else even when I do not clearly recognize the options. But if I say 'no' to something, is it not at least my own personal duty to myself to endeavour to

x- discover what exactly I am ‘ saying 'yes'to?

Who could controvert this? And yet modern man is for- ever bewailing the fact that he can find no meaning to & for his life. Why? Perhaps because he lives without re- lation —- if one can call that living. Thus one of the most pressing tasks of our age is to discover how re- lation -- and I mean re- lation, a "reciprocity", in Buber's sense -— is possible. By discovering how

_it is possible, we may hope to discover the conditions requisite for its realiza— tion. Such knowledge may call for a revolution but we have nothing to lose: we have only to discover and create a world we all NEED. But who, you ask, shall we study for this purpose? I suggest we start with Karl Marx and Martin Buber. They among all others point to the right path.

Lee Berrourd ’

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