Abstract
Buber's book "I and Thou" should have served originally as a prolegomena to a monumental work on religion, not specific religion but religion as such, understood by Buber as a life in God's presence. He developed the dialogical concept of his philosophy progressively, its final form being influenced by earlier philosophers (Jacobi, Feuerbach, Kierkegaard), as well as Buber's contemporaries (Cohen, Rosenzweig, Ebner).
The principles of the dialogical philosophy have been critically adopted by some of Buber's followers (Heschel, Lévinas).