I-thou vs I-it encounter

…the person should never be reduced to mere social meanings because no person is only a social construction. The person transcends reductionistic labels and simple categories buy virtue of his or her dignity. To relate to the other person as a person of dignity is to engage with him or her in an I-thou encounter, as opposed to an I-it encounter, as Buber described; it is to bear witness to the other as a person rather than a thing.

Stephen Joseph (ed.), “Positive Psychology in Practice: promoting human flourishing in work, health, education, and everyday life”, (New Jersey: Wiley, 2015), p.37.