Quelques conceptions juives de l’individu

Abstract

Is there a Jewish conception of the individual subject? The issue is quite problematic, for several reasons: 1) it is difficult to speak of Judaism in a monolithic manner, because Judaism is a multifaceted reality, varying according to different epochs and places, to the point that we should speak of “Judaisms”, in the plural; 2) if the question of the individual subject is connected to the vision that the Western (meaning, European, essentially Christian) culture has constructed, Judaism can hardly be defined as “Occidental” or “Oriental”. After a short analysis of these two points, we present the conceptions of the individual subject as developed by two major Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century: Martin Buber (1878-1965) and Erich Fromm (1900-1980). Both based their visions on traditional Jewish sources (Bible, Talmud) but attributed them a universal value.