A subjective, lived experience of the body

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas share common ground as prominent 20th-century Jewish thinkers who emphasized the importance of the intersubjective encounter over purely cognitive relations. However, they do not fully "gel" due to significant philosophical differences, primarily concerning the nature of that encounter. 

Key Points of Convergence

• Focus on the "Other": Both thinkers place the encounter with the other person at the center of their philosophy, moving away from the Western philosophical tradition's emphasis on the isolated self.
• Ethical Motivation: Both were deeply concerned with the possibility of violence and the objectification of human beings, writing in the backdrop of Nazi violence against Jews. They sought to establish an ethical framework that prevents the reduction of the other to a mere object.
• Transcendence: Both believed that a genuine relationship with another person involves an encounter with something transcendent or divine, which cannot be fully grasped or instrumentalized. 

Key Points of Divergence

Feature	Martin Buber	Emmanuel Levinas
Structure of the Relation	Symmetrical and reciprocal: The I-Thou relationship is a mutual, shared experience where both parties meet as authentic beings.	Asymmetrical and unilateral: The ethical relation is a vertical demand placed upon the self by the "face" of the other, who is in a position of vulnerability. The self is infinitely responsible for the other, without expectation of reciprocity.
Ethical Imperative	Arises from the direct, full-being encounter (I-Thou) in everyday life, focusing on the shared "between".	Stems from the "face" of the other, which commands "You shall not kill me" and establishes an infinite moral obligation prior to any reciprocal relationship.
Conception of Alterity	Allows for a dynamic between "distance and closeness," where the other is encountered in their uniqueness but can still be known in a non-objectifying way.	Emphasizes the radical uniqueness and absolute difference (alterity) of the other, who remains ultimately unknowable and transcends one's own totalizing frameworks.
View of God	God is encountered in and through the world and the I-Thou relationships within it, rather than a transcendent, separate entity.	God is a "trace" found in the ethical encounter with the face of the other, a concept of the divine that is not a traditional theological lawgiver.

In essence, while Levinas held Buber's work in high esteem and was influenced by it, he developed his philosophy as a critique of Buber's concept of reciprocity, arguing it lacked sufficient ethical depth and risked assimilating the other into the self's own experience. They are closely related, but their fundamental disagreement on the nature of the ethical relationship means they offer distinct, rather than identical, perspectives. 

- GoogleAI 

https://www.google.com/search?q=How+far+Buber+and+Levinas+gel

Yes, philosophers Gabriel Marcel and Maurice Merleau-Ponty had significant common ground, particularly in their shared phenomenological and existential approaches to the nature of human existence and the body. Merleau-Ponty was also a friend and former student of Marcel. 

Key Common Themes

• The Body-Subject: Both thinkers reject the traditional mind-body dualism prevalent in Western philosophy. They argue that the human being is a unified "body-subject," an incarnated existence, rather than a consciousness separate from a physical object. For both, "to exist is to be one's body".
• Rejection of Objectification: Both Marcel and Merleau-Ponty start from the concern of distinguishing a person's relationship to their body from that of a consciousness confronting an external, inanimate object or thing. They emphasize a subjective, lived experience of the body.
• Influence and Association: Merleau-Ponty was influenced by the existential threads in Marcel's thought. Both were associated with the broader existentialist and phenomenological movements in France, which included figures like Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. 

Key Differences

Despite these similarities, their philosophies diverge in important ways:

• History and Social Dynamics: While Marcel's concept of "mystery" allows for deep interpersonal connections, it limits his analysis of complex, collective social dynamics and history. Merleau-Ponty, on the other hand, more fully integrates the individual's relation to others and to history as essential dimensions of existence with their own specific logic.
• Objectivity: Merleau-Ponty emphasizes a dialectical interrelation between existence and objectivity, whereas Marcel makes a starker division, which affects their respective philosophies on perception.
• Philosophy of the Body: Marcel views the body as participating in being, while Merleau-Ponty sees it as an "expressive being" that interpenetrates subjectivity and materiality, which underscores their different views on perception.
• Religious and Political Views: Merleau-Ponty was a friend of the Christian existentialist Marcel, but Merleau-Ponty eventually left the Catholic Church as he felt his socialist politics were incompatible with Catholic social doctrine. 

- GoogleAI

https://www.google.com/search?q=Does+Marcel+have+anything+in+common+with+Merleau-Ponty