Questions :

1. What is the “novum” of the attitude “I and You” according to Buber?

2. Which phrase best describes “work” in relation to man based on the idea of Karl
Marx?
A. Man lives in order to work.
B. Man works in order to live.
3. What do you think is the type of work in this Modern Society that demonstrates
alienation?
4. How does not experiencing our “species-essence” impact society?

Answer :

1. According to Buber, ”I and You” is a relation of subject-to-subject where human beings

are aware of each other as having a unity of being. They do not perceive each other as
consisting of specific, isolated qualities, but engage in a dialogue involving each others
whole being.The “novum” or the point of difference of “I and You” is they have to be
responsible and caring for some people who were in need of attention and they are
pertaining to a person and not to an object. Buber contends that the ”I and You” relation
between the individual and God is a universal relation which is the foundation for all other
relations. If the individual has a real ”I and You” relation with God, then the individual must
have a real ”I and You” relation with the world. If the individual has a real ”I and
You” relation with God, then the individual’s actions in the world must be guided by that
“I and You” relation. If you and I had a mutual understanding between one God and the
humane society, we can always tell that we are not isolated at all.
(Source : http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/buber.html)

2. B. Man works in order to live.

The description of work according to Karl Marx is like man that defined man not only
biologically, anatomically and physiologically but also psychologically. In Marxism, the
condition of the working class have facing their own struggles in terms of economic
stability and massive number of population. However, man intends to work in order to
earn enough finances to sustain their daily supply and other needs for their family and the
society. In a large sense, their chosen field is not enough to gain their daily finances due
to an outnumbered competitors for a desired position whether it is in the higher class or
in the lower classes. The difference between work and living may depend on the career
path of an individual to set their goals and value their strength and weaknesses to change
their attitude towards work. By contrast, other people work to live. These people view their
work or careers largely as toil whose purpose is to earn the money necessary to support
themselves and their dependents. Their real interests lie elsewhere, and their work or
careers are only means to an end, not an end in itself. Some of these people try to cut
corners, to gain the maximum pay for the minimum amount of effort.
(Source : https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-it-means-to-live-to-work-1286773,
Wikipedia.org)
3. Unpaid Works are also considered as the Modern Work that causes alienation. An
internship is a system of on-the-job training for white-collar and professional careers.
Internships for professional careers are similar to apprenticeships for trade and vocational
jobs. Although interns are typically college or university students, they can also be high
school students or post-graduate adults. Generally, the internship is an exchange of
services for experience between the student and his or her employer. Some interns also
find permanent, paid employment with the companies in which they interned. Thus,
employers also benefit, as experienced interns need little or no training when they begin
full-time, regular employment. Another important type of unpaid work is work done by
family members to maintain a household. Unpaid domestic work has traditionally been
done by women (e.g., wives and mothers). Their work may include cooking, cleaning,
rearing children, or managing household expenses. As more women enter the paid
workforce, many find themselves returning home after a day of paid work to continue
working a “second shift” of unpaid domestic work. Though unpaid, this domestic work is
crucial to the economy: it keeps workers alive and healthy and helps raise new
generations of workers to keep the paid economy running.

(Source : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/work/)

4. For Marx humanity’s species-essence is labor itself. Labor is our ‘conscious life activity’.
Marx claims that humans are by nature creative conscious beings and that we objectifying
ourselves in the products that we produce. To objectify ourselves is to use our conscious
life activity to see ourselves as the subject in relation to nature and to manifest or make
real our conscious thoughts, our objects, through our manipulation of nature. Unlike the
species-essence of most animals which is instinctual life activity. Since most animals
operate and meet their needs through the use of their instincts, whereas we operate and
meet our needs through conscious thoughts and our ability to transform nature into the
objects of our thoughts. In effect by being alienated from our species-essence: our creative
conscious life-activity, we alienate ourselves from our human nature to create what we
want at will and from the potential that our species-essence provides us. How can a person
can face into a species-essence society if there are some instances that equality and
alienation is considered as an issue? If they were given an equal right to work as a regular
employee, they should also earned enough benefits just like a human with more than a
salary-waged and can avail all of the benefits for his or her family. People can apply this
concept of humane society if there is a privilege to join in an organization to ensure the
right of each employees to become regular in a position.

(Source : https://demoskratia.org/marxs-conception-of-alienation-7e9d47b78220)