ABSTRACT
At the end of the last chapter, we saw that a tension present in all relationships is that between freedom and togetherness. Philosophers point out that an unavoidable fact of the human condition is that we are both intrinsically alone and unavoidably in the world with other people.1 We are born alone, coming through the birth canal by ourselves. We will die alone: nobody else can do that with us. We can never truly know what it is to be another person, however close we get to them. At the same time, we cannot escape other people and the impact that they have on our life. As soon as we come to the world, we are in the hands of others without whom we wouldn’t be able to survive. During our lives we try to enter the crevices of others’ minds and bodies. And, when we begin our fi nal journey, we wish for somebody to be there to hold our hand.
