Dehumanization.

By Scott F.

In Jewish Philosopher Martin Buber’s most prominent piece Ich and Du, he spoke of the relations of “I-it ” and “I -thou” (or “I-you” ) which he believed we continually shift between in our lives.The “I-thou” relationship is one of subject to subject, it’s a mutually beneficial relation between equals.Buber characterised the “I-it” relationship as one involving a subject treating another person or thing as an object.Normally this would be of no consequence but the matter is different when it comes to human interaction.I am unaware if Buber applied his “I-it” relation in this way but among humans it results in what might be broadly termed ‘dehumanization’. Dehumanization is present in a range of relations -most specifically ones involving discrimination and violence.Dehumanization is present most clearly in Racism,Sexism and Statism.

With Racism , the individual is taken to be an object among a mere class of objects reduced to a determined ‘other’- a thing lacking in personality or free will of it’s own. With Racism, illogical generalizations are made from a specific event or individual to a general group and used to degrade an individuals humanity.

In the case of Sexism,this takes two forms.It can either be prescriptive or descriptive.Prescriptive sexism is normative, making claims about what a gender should do.It often relies on descriptive sexism as a justification.Descriptively arguing from an assumed inherent nature based on an individuals choice , an individual is said to be required to do something to be a member of that gender.Clearly one of the many flaws here is that if it is an inherent part of a gender to do X then prescriptive sexism is redundant.Thus while contradictory ,prescriptive sexism perpetuates a self-fulfilling prophecy.In driving a social pressure for a gender to do X , then where X is followed (whether due to this pressure or not)  it is proclaimed as proof of an inherent nature afterall- a victory for descriptive sexism.Yet again we see that sexism creates an object out of individuals and either seeks to control freely willed choices(as in prescriptive sexism) or deterministically deny any such choices are possible(as in descriptive sexism).In seeing this we note that sexism too is degrading of our humanity.

Finally, we come to statism.Statism is based on the premise that our freely willed choices are faulty or if not, at very least need guidance by force to ensure we live up to expectations.Statism reduces us to mere pawns in the hands of the ruling class.We are numbers for bureaucrats to count.Should innocent brown people be killed overseas,they are mere statistics to be recorded.The ruled are seen as lessers,unfit for autonomy and without the mental faculities of their supposed social betters.In this way Statism embodies and supports “I-It” dehumanization in theory and in practice.Often, we are criticized for tieing social concerns such as sexism with political goals like anarchism.Here I have shown the clear connection.Anytime we challenge statism,we by logical implication are challenging the legitimacy of “I-it” relations themselves.The aim of Anarchism should be to abolish these and seek to replace them with a society of “I-thou” relationships.In these latter relations,Buber thought God was to be found.