Daoism and Confucianism in Martin Buber’s Thought

Throughout his life, Martin Buber (1878-1965) expressed a genuine interest in Chinese philosophy. Buber’s translation of the Zhuangzi into German (1910), praised by his contemporaries, was the first to introduce the ancient Chinese philosopher to the German-speaking audience. Buber’s lectures on the Daodejing (1924) attempted to integrate Daoist thought into a larger philosophical context, while his essay “China and Us” (1928) suggested that the European world could benefit from the Daoist idea of “non-action.” Although Buber rejected the possibility that Europe could benefit from Confucian thought, after moving to Jerusalem (1938), he wrote and commented on several non-Daoist sources, including the Analects of Confucius (1944). Buber’s interest in Confucianism, much like his earlier interest in Daoism, was stimulated by his own philosophical search. This paper evaluates Martin Buber’s understanding of Daoism and Confucianism as expressed in his sinological writings. It seeks to evaluate both the extent to which Buber’s intellectual engagement with China influenced his philosophy and the compatibility of Buber’s original ideas with Daoist and Confucian thought.