Società, persona e relazione. In occasione della pubblicazione di ‘Scoprire i beni relazionali. Per generare una nuova socialità’ di Pierpaolo Donati

Abstract

Society, Person and Relation. About the Publication of P. Donati’s ‘Scoprire i beni relazionali. Per generare una nuova socialità’ . Donati’s relational paradigm is of great ontological and methodological value in understanding the various phenomena of reality. Donati coined the expression “the enigma of relation” to underline the difficulty of grasping the relational character of the goods linked to it: their multiplicity and their influence on people and relational networks. In order to understand the complete path of Donati’s proposal, the following order is proposed: the relation, the relational subjects, the relational good. Relation is a reality involving two or more entities between which there is a “distance”. This reality, which helps to distinguish and connect, has causal powers because it brings about novelties. This understanding brings Donati’s proposal similar to the model of Aristotelian enérgeia. This comparison between the two proposals is one of the issues that must be explored in order to fully understand the significance of Donati’s work. The subjects of the relation can be described as utilitarian, of equality, and of donation. Relationships between subjects must be good in themselves, benefiting each participant. The relational good has no functional equivalent, i.e. it cannot be obtained in any other way.