The encounter of 'Self' and 'Other' in Existential Philosophy and its Formulation with Emphasis on Martin Buber's Thought

The subject of "self" and "other" in a one sense expresses the controversies of subjectivism-empiricism in contemporary Western philosophy. In these controversies sometimes the subject of the "other" was focused and sometimes neglected and even the tendency of dominated on it was provided, but with the emergence of existentialism, the subject of the "other" and emphasizing its role in recognizing the "self" was raised. Although existential philosophers have an ontological attitude to another subject, but the subject of the "other" and the encounter the "self" with it, have no explicit formulation in their thinking, while formulation the encounter of "self" and "other" can provide clear teachings to defend a desirable relationship between these two sides. In this article, it is assumed that Martin Buber's thought, although in the continuation of the existentialism was raised, but he’s thought by uses of another philosophical branches and by Jewish mysticism, and with establishment the “dialogical philosophy”, presents explicit formulation for the desirable encounter of "self" and "other". This article tries to offer the theoretical model based on Buber's views by investigating different approaches to the relationship between "self" and "other" in order to examine the possibility or lack of coexistence and originality of "other" in knowing "self" in a thinker's mind.