Beyond the Narcissistic Tendency. Relationship as the Ordo Amoris of Subjectivity

Beginning with an analysis of the condition of contemporary subjectivity, suspended between the narcissistic temptation of self-gratification and the Promethean drive to manipulate and instrumentalize otherness, this contribution seeks to elucidate the ontological significance of relation as a personal ordo amoris for the existential fulfilment of human life. The ordo amoris indicates the subject's capacity to move beyond the immanence of the self, to open itself to otherness, and to acknowledge a transcendent order of values that illuminates reality, rendering it worthy of appreciation and desire. In view of the possible dysfunctional configurations of the ordo amoris, which manifest themselves in the emergence of psychopathological and narcissistic personalities, the contribution that philosophy and education can offer becomes decisive in directing subjective life towards personal fulfilment. Such fulfilment is achieved precisely through interpersonal relationships and through the recognition of the intrinsic axiological position occupied by every element of reality. (Original paper in Italian; Italian title: Oltre la tendenza narcisistica. La relazione come ordo amoris della soggettivita.)