ABSTRACT
Is it still possible that what we call “society” can retain its basic human characters? Or is it inevitable that society will become post- or trans-human? The thesis is that the recognition of the human character of society depends on whether the human is essentially distinguished by its own species-specific relationality. It is a question of rethinking human identity by passing from unrelated thinking, which reifies or subjectivises identity, to relational thinking, for which the essence of human identity lies in the fact of being a sui generis relational subject. It is the relationship with the Other (not the face of the Other as such) that tells me what I actually am. The human character of society is either relational or it is not. The human feeds on a relational rationality, far beyond instrumental and value rationality, otherwise, it does not surpass itself but, on the contrary, it regresses or degrades in the non-human.
