Fraternità del figlio unico: il principio nascosto

The history of thought has followed in a predominant way the interpretation of the "brother", as the relative and already also as the rival, the enemy. The principle of fraternity, in its universal value, as unity of humanity, runs the risk of being misunderstood into a simple familistic (genealogical, nationalistic, confessional or tribal) reduction. It is a question of the recognition of human dignity and equality, which neither ethics nor legal declarations can provide a foundation. According to the plotinian idea of the one and the christian idea of incarnation, the dialectic between the singularity and multiplicity of living subjects is considered here. Through the contribution of the philosophies of Levinas and Derrida and Henry's phenomenology, also in relation to Jullien, the essays proposes that human beings are bound together by selfhood (ipseité), sharing unity, and therefore that the universal proceeds from the knowledge of self as I: Fraternity of the unique son.