RT Article
T1 The Non-Categorical Imperative: Martin Buber's Line of Demarcation and the Doctrine of the Descent of the Tzaddik in Hasidism
JF Jewish studies quarterly
VO 31
IS 1
SP 87
OP 112
A1 Hadad, Yemima
LA English
PB Mohr Siebeck
YR 2024
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1880757338
AB Buber's concept of the »line of demarcation« has been criticized by a number of thinkers from the perspectives of philosophy and Kantian ethics. Ernst Simon, who wrote an extended essay on the topic, called it a »non-categorical« principle, while Hugo Bergman and Steven Schwarzschild explained it through Buber's dialogical philosophy, highlighting its failure to articulate clear ethical imperatives. Today Buber's line of demarcation is hardly noticeable in the scholarly literature, mainly because it seems to offer little practical value and concrete guidelines. Yet, as this essay argues, Buber's situational ethics and his line of demarcation were shaped by profound theological doctrines. It shows that the line of demarcation was inspired by the doctrine of the descent of the tzaddik in Hasidism and the doctrine of »descent for the sake of ascent« (yeridah letzorech aliyah). These doctrines allow us to view Buber's ethical vision again as a »non-categorical imperative,« which aligned with his political-theopolitical approach and his life-long engagement with hasidic thought.
K1 Ernst Simon
K1 Immanuel Kant
K1 Theopolitics
K1 Zionism
K1 kav hatikhum
K1 yeridat hatzaddik
DO 10.1628/jsq-2024-0005