The hermeneutics of dialogue in the works of Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig,
and Martin Buber reveals in depth the common core of all Judeo-Christian sources, beginning
with the Bible. The fundamental realization of these sources is that dialogue is not a matter
of formal agreement between individuals and groups, but rather means living a self-relationship in relation to God, humans, and the world. The hermeneutics of dialogue on this basis
is therefore a revolutionary novelty in comparison with the whole history of philosophical idealism in the sense of transcendent universals (Plato) and the ontological monistic philosophy of absolute idealism (Hegel and Schelling) that creates a gap between abstract idea and
concrete reality of the world in which humans seek their personal spiritual identity in living
relationships with God, fellow human beings, and the world. The article reveals the common
points of the hermeneutics of dialogue in the three Jewish philosophers, the specifics of each
of them and the possibilities of dialogue between Jews and Christians. The aim of the research
is to determine the consequences of the »existential revolution« for philosophy, theology and
religious practice, for science and art, for the evaluation of humans as personal beings in their
spiritual identity and for interaction between people as persons and as members of the family or wider communities (religious and civil society). The hermeneutics of dialogue at the
existential level enables innovations of several kinds in both the field of theory and practice.
Among the most important innovations are the consequences for perceiving the possibilities
and limits of language to properly express spiritual content, including God’s attributes and
human virtues in their reciprocity and opposites. In the field of literature and art, this means
the optimal use of the »new critique«, which supports the methodological principle of close
reading in the process of holistic interpretation.
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