Altruistic Attitudes

I was thinking recently about Martin Buber's "I and Thou" understanding of how human beings authentically relate to one another as equals, and how it is quite different from narrating relationships in terms of 'needs' or functions. It seems as though in the modern business world, people negotiate from the point of view of a shared interest, where people work with one another to achieve a common goal, such as profit for the organization. Is this altruistic? In a sense, it's a kind of enlightened self-interest, which amounts to saying that we work together for our mutual benefit. What's perhaps more challenging is to work with those with whom we don't really stand to benefit from them, nor them from us. This requires a completely different orientation, which Buber's "I and Thou" has an ability to induce, given sufficient reflection on the term itself.
  How can we reflect in terms of people as people, when so often we are conditioned to thinking in a way that creates maximum benefits to self and others? Is Buber's ontology outdated in a world of cost/benefit analysis and utilitarian ethics? From a Buddhist perspective, it would be interesting to explore linkages between Buddha's teachings and Buber's "I and Thou". One way of approaching it is to contemplate to what extent our relationships with fellow sentient beings are tainted with the three kleshas of greed, hatred and ignorance. In letting go of these taints, it's more possible for people to operate together from a deeper sense of meditative joy, which creates a space for not needing anything in particular from others. Again, I can't stress enough: there is a joy in this kind of letting go which I have most frequently, if at all, found in meditative practice. Sadly, I don't find much evidence for meditation in Buber's writings, so there are times when I am at a loss as to what can help induce I Thou moments. Buber himself suggests that we inevitably have these moments where there is a fluctuation of "I Thou" and "I It" orientations. A person simply has a hard time sustaining the genuine moments of I/Thou reciprocation, in a world where people are often treated as a means to an end.
   While I am optimistic that practices like meditation can offer more chances for genuine I/Thou openness, I also agree with Buber's claims that the I/Thou relationship can never be reduced to a technique or a formula. It's only in the dropping of attachments to formula that we can behold each other as fellow beings rather than trying to strive against others to obtain desired states.


Buber, M (1970). I and Thou. New York: Scribner