The Role of Affectivity in Human Flourishing. The Internal Relation between Affectivity, Ethos, and Bonds

In this article I will attempt to show the role of affectivity in human flourishing. For that it is necessary overcome a first impression: That there is no relation between affectivity, ethos, and bonds. This does not correspond to real experience, but rather to a dualistic prejudice that radically separates “happening” (affectivity) from “acting” and “relating” (ethos and bonds). In fact, “happening,” “acting” and “relating” are three dimensions of human existence which are never given separately, and therefore must be integrated in one’s life. Every “happening”, to be integrated, requires its transformation into “action,” and every “action” has at its basis a “happening”-at least as a motive to act. Far from enclosing the person in his subjectivity by isolating him from otherness, affectivity always opens him to the world and to others, so that the essential relationality of the person is manifested in it. These three components-affectivity, ethos, and bonds—are necessarily interrelated, and a good education consists in wisely linking what subjectivity feels with the other components to establish a meaningful connection with what or who one is relating to.