Privato, pubblico, istituzione, virtuale. "Me" e gli "altri"

Since Tocqueville's reflexion modernity has drawn the conceptual, and philosophical-legal, pair public-private. On the one hand the concept of "public" as a dimension for the debate (Habermas), on the other hand the concept of "private" related to the individual sphere. Contemporary scenarios (i.e. especially under the influence of new technologies) have changed the sociological landscape including its legal reflexes: anyway on closer inspection the emphasis on the personal profile does not obscure the projection to the collective horizon. Accordingly we can observe a dialectical tension between personal universe and social dimension: hence the necessity to reconsider the idea of "institution" and the functionality of democratic systems.